Sainsbury's Experiment Night 5

Apparently I had been saying I was cooking the wrong thing tonight. I thought the prawns were int he spinach pasta bake! My bad. Tonight is the Penne with Prawns and Courgettes. The current standing for the week on meals is 3/4.

Penne with Prawns and Courgettes
Serves: 4

Per Serving:440cals; 10g fat

Ingredients
350g Dried penne
3 tbsp Olive oil
2 Courgettes, trimmed and cut into batons
2 Garlic cloves fat, peeled and finely chopped
1 Red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 glass Dry white wine
1 x 220g pack Cooked large king prawns
½ Lemon zest grated
a handful of Flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Method
1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the penne according to pack instructions.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oil, add the courgettes and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened and golden, stirring in the garlic and chilli for the final 2 minutes.
3. Next, add the wine and prawns, bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes.
4. Drain the pasta and toss with the prawn mixture, lemon zest and parsley.
5. Season to taste.

Tonight was another hit! Ray speculated that pork would go well, because of the citrus and that was when I told him that instead of zesting, I added lemon juice. It created an absolutely delicious sauce which went remarkeably well with the pasta and vegetables. We will definitely be making this again. That's 4/5 for the Sainsbury's experiment, with only one dish left for tomorrow night, which should also yield leftovers for a mix-n-match dinner evening Monday night.

As for it making 4 servings, I have to disagree. Maybe 4 servings for 4 children, but this hardly made a large frying pan full. I guess it depends on how much pasta you add. We didn't have a huge pan to add a ton of pasta. So if you have more people, portion your pasta accordingly. I'd just cook a whole pack and save the cooked pasta for a pasta salad lunch the next day.

Sainsbury's Experiment Night 4

Night 4 we cooked the meal we were supposed to cook on Night 3. The chicken has finally thawed out and the carribean smells of Jerk Chicken with Coconut Bean Rice can now waft through our small flat.

Jerk Chicken with Coconut Bean Rice
Serves: 4

Ingredients
200g Long grain rice
1 x 410g tin Black-eye beans
1 x 400ml tin Coconut milk
8 Chicken thighs
1½ tbsp Jerk seasoning mixed with 1 tablespoon sugar
1 tbsp Vegetable oil
2 Medium onions, peeled and sliced
1 Zest and juice of lime

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 220°C, fan 200°C, gas 7.
2. Bring a pan of water to the boil, and simmer the rice for 10 minutes.
3. Drain, return to the pan with the black-eye beans and their juice and the coconut milk.
4. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until cooked through.
5. Toss the chicken thighs with the jerk seasoning mix and the oil.
6. Fry over a high heat for 3 minutes in a large ovenproof frying pan.
7. Add the sliced onions to the pan, lift the chicken on top, fry for 2 minutes, place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes until cooked through
8. Serve on the coconut bean rice sprinkled with lime zest and juice

Sadly, we did not completely enjoy this dish. The coconut and bean rice was bland and just didn't really fill the hunger niche. Something was missing from the recipe with that rice. Plus my husband doesn't like this kind of rice, he prefers a completely savory rice.

The chicken was fine, but it would have essentially been a chicken breast with jerk seasoning anyways. I didn't have a bakeable frying pan, so I had to use a casserole dish to finish cooking the chicken. I'd prefer to just make a skinless chicken breast with jerk seasoning and some rice pilaf or other savory rice with some broccoli. I don't really enjoy chicken with the skin on, because it has a tendency to get a bit greasy.

Tonight was a miss, but at least now we have jerk seasoning to play with on our own time with other foods. Tomorrow I think we'll be enjoying the Prawn and Spinach Penne Pasta bake.

Sainsbury's Experiment Night 3

Night three was a disaster. Our scheduled meal was supposed to be Jerk Chicken with coconut bean rice, but I forgot to take the chicken out of the freezer and it didn't thaw in time for dinner. So we switched things around and made the Chorizo and Pasta Hot Pot.

Chorizo and Pasta Hot Pot

Ingredients
100g pack Spanish chorizo
2 onions
390g carton chopped tomatoes (or can of chopped tomatoes)
250g pack conchigliette
400g White farmhouse loaf (or any preferred thick cut bread or rolls)

1 vegetable stock cube (or chicken) or 1 liter vegetable stock

1 small can of preferred peas

Method
1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot or saucepan and add 2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped. Add 1 x 100g pack Spanish chorizo, with each slice halved, and fry until crispy.
2. Add 1 x 390g carton chopped tomatoes and stir in 250g conchigliette.
3. Add 1 litre vegetable stock, made with 1 stock cube, and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add 1 can peas and cook for another 5 minutes, until the pasta is tender and the peas are cooked.

5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve in large bowls with chunks of bread on the side

Serves: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes

What a hit this was. It was even supposed to make 4 portions, but made roughly 6 portions, so now we have lunch for tomorrow! I was so thrilled with this dish. It is a perfect "winter" dish or comfort food. I love one-pot dishes and I was so nervous about this because of our last chorizo experiment with the tomato pancakes, but this was so delicious!