Jamie Oliver's Sicilian Prawn Pasta

I respect Jamie Oliver. He is creative and adventurous with food, travels to seek inspirations. He cares about people's health, started the Food Revolution to combat the serious trend of obesity in America yet faced numerous setbacks and criticisms from children who were only introduced to and used to fast foods and school caterers who recklessly believed that they had already fulfilled their obligation for promoting healthy-eating simply by including fries (reason: potatoes are vegetables) in the children's meal plans. Each year, Jamie also hires and trains young ex-cons and drop-outs at his restaurant Fifteen to help them see their own value and better integrate them into society.

So many reasons to like Jamie. He understands home-cooks like us too. Work nowadays makes home-cooking almost impossible or a luxury. When work becomes hard, it is especially important for you to eat healthy, stay healthy, and please yourself with delicious food instead of oily takeaways or pre-packed microwavable pizza with pathetically little toppings or rice that stick together and can only be broken down by a fork.

This recipe is taken from Jamie's 15-minute meal. With break-neck chopping skills and cool kitchen gadgets, Jamie can easily whip up this pasta dish AND a lemon fennel salad in well under 15 minutes. I am not a particularly fast cook, but hey, in just 15 minutes I can make this pasta too! So do try this if you are pressed with time!

This generously spiced Sicilian prawn pasta is extremely cool. Saffron and cinnamon adds to this dish the aromatic arabic twist. I quite like saffron but I can foresee that not everyone will like its taste, so do give it a try before adding it to the dish. The one element that gives this ordinary pasta the WOW effect is the crunchy garlicky breadcrumbs! They completely elevate the taste and mouth-feel of a regular pasta in tomato sauce, and transform the pasta into something much more fun, interesting and even addictive! I seriously cannot help adding more and more of the breadcrumbs into my pasta as I eat it, I even grab handfuls of them and eat them like peanuts while watching TV. I can already see how versatile these crunchy breadcrumbs can be, suitable for many other pastas including mac & cheese.

Homemade Linguine with Mushroom, Thyme and Lemon

When I look at my newly-bought pasta machine, I can't help smiling like a proud Wall Street banker who has just nailed a great deal. I'm serious, I still think it's one of the best kitchen investments I've ever made! It has made life much easier for me, especially when my life now pretty much circles around pasta-making from scratch. 

Aren't they pretty? Hm, sometimes I really wonder if I actually think they're pretty just because I made them. But look! Delicate and highlighted with fine sand-like semolina, the unintended twists and curls are just like gentle waves stretching across the moon-lit ocean. 


Linguine is spaghetti squashed flat, best served with light vegetable sauces. Introduced to this pasta dish through the beautiful Nigella Lawson's cooking show a few years ago, I've been making this since then whenever I want a tasty meal real quick. Really, there's nothing to cook apart from the pasta! The mushrooms are served fresh. 

You know this pasta recipe is a keeper just by looking at the genius polygamy of mushroom, thyme and lemon. Like tomato and basil, mushroom and thyme, and thyme and lemon are best friends matched by heaven. So nothing can go wrong here. Perfect timing for me to share with you a little trick I recently learnt from Jamie Oliver on his 30-minute meals series. Before you pick the thyme leaves off the sprigs, wake them up by dipping them in hot water. It takes less than a second but you can immediately smell the thyme then. So good.

Homemade Farfalle

When people tell you that making your own pasta is extremely satisfying and no rocket science, believe them. I can verify this. For every 100g of flour, you just need 1 egg and a pinch of salt. There's really nothing more to remember!

But when these people, especially the Italian nonne, tell you that it's real quick and easy peasy, don't blindly believe them like I did. Well, actually you can! If you have a pasta machine, it's quick and easy. Without it, it's not the end of the world, but it will require a lot more effort. I will tell you what happened to me without a pasta machine in just a minute.

My recent pasta-making frenzy was actually provoked by a TV programme, Simply Italian, presented by a gorgeous, young Welsh-Italian, Michela Chiappa. In just 4 short episodes, she demonstrates how to cook the Italian way. From pastas of different shapes and colors, to delicious sauces and outstanding fillings, she never fails to impress! Unlike my beloved professionally-trained Little Paris Kitchen goddess, Rachel Khoo, Michela is not chained to the stove at all. Instead, she's a full-time marketing consultant. But thanks to her Italian upbringing, her family has been making pasta for generations and she's been taught all there is to know to cook and eat just like Italians.

After watching the show, I felt the urge to make my own pasta again. Since I was told by MIchela how easy and quick everything could be, I decided to go big and mass produce both green-hinted and orange farfalle and ravioli. At that time, I had absolutely no idea how ridiculously ambitious I was to have planned to accomplish all these without the help of a pasta machine! 

So on and on I kneaded and rolled, tried so hard to flatten the dough which just by nature, loves to retreat and shrink back into their original size and thickness. Phew, when I finally managed to roll them thin and nice, bits of it somehow stuck to the station and I had to stretch and carefully pull it off the table, and rarely would I not tore it apart or rip some holes out of it. This is absolutely normal and still fun if you're making pasta portions enough for two people. But bear in mind that I was mass producing both farfalle and very thin ravioli, of different colors too! So without a pasta machine, it took me around 5 hours of rolling, cutting and shaping in total. I was completely exhausted, with sore arms and shoulders I walked to my bed like a zombie at 9:30p.m. And in just a day, I dropped 2 pounds. 

Please don't get me wrong, I am not writing this to discourage you to make your own pasta. I am in fact encouraging you to do so while sparing you from any unnecessary pain and sweat! In short, if you don't have a pasta machine, it's fine, but be realistic and make limited portions of thicker pasta like fettuccine, as opposed to ravioli sheets that have to be really thin to be tasty. However, if possible, please buy a pasta machine! It's seriously one of the best kitchen investments I've ever made! It's not expensive, and I bought it from Pantry Magic in Hong Kong. Now, I can easily mass produce pastas of different sizes and shapes from scratch in just half an hour! You can now tell that there will be many posts on pastas up soon.

Summer Pasta

Most of the classes which I am taking are held in the morning. I love this because that means that I get to go home and make lunch for myself!

I headed to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, hmm thinking what I could make out of the things in hand. The weather was too hot for something too heavy. I needed something light, fresh, sharp and colorful. So there, I picked up some cherry tomatoes, lemon and basil leaves, closed the refrigerator, hesitated, opened it again and grabbed my block of parmesan cheese. A little cheese won't hurt!

Linguine con le vongole

I suddenly felt like making this dish, so despite the rain, I went out to the market to pick some nice fresh clams. I have to admit that I usually do my groceries at Park N' Shop or Taste and occasionally at Citysuper, but I know it's best to hit the local markets. They offer the freshest ingredients without costing you a fortune, and the friendly stall owners are very generous in giving you cooking tips. 

As usual, sauté the minced garlic, onion and red pepper flakes. Splash in white wine, lemon juice and chicken broth. Add in the clams, cover the lid and let it simmer for 6 minutes. 

The heated wine intensified and accented the flavour of the clams, it smelled so good! I couldn't wait to open the lid and there, the clams welcomed me with a big wide grin! So pretty!!

Almost done at this stage! Toss in the linguine, season it and mix in a handful of parsley. Finish it off with one more splash of extra virgin olive oil and there you have it! :) 

I dedicate this post to Salina and Patrick, who are huge fans of linguine con le vongole!

Penne with Shrimps in Tomato Cream Sauce

I stood at awe of this unbeatable combination of shrimps, garlic, onion, tomato sauce, white wine, cream and parsley. I adapted this recipe from the Pioneer Woman website, but as usual, I didn't really follow the suggested measurements. I rely on my own intuition and of course, I always taste my dishes before serving them. I like it that way.

To keep my station clean and neat, I decided to adopt the practice "mise en place", which means "put in place" in English. I first realized its beauty and importance half a year ago when I cut my finger with a can while struggling in a very messy station (my sister always warned me about it). This practice is a must-do in professional kitchens. Before the cooking is done, all the ingredients are to be cut, prepared and separately placed in small plates and bowls, with all the necessary utensils placed at the stove.

I first fried the shrimp in olive oil and butter, cut them into small chunks and later drowned them in the gorgeous orange sauce. We were all so satisfied after this meal. This is comfort food. :)

Simple Stir-fried Spaghetti with Broccoli

Ran out of ingredients but still wanted to cook and eat well. So I stir fried the spaghetti with garlic, chilli, white wine and lemon juice. Sharp and pungent, it cannot go wrong. Oh and of course, I gave it a generous splash of extra-virgin olive oil before conquering it. 

I have found that the garlic tastes particularly nice when perfectly sautéed and browned. And another very random but useful tip, for those who wear contact lens, wear your contact lens before making this dish, the chilli hotness wouldn't leave my fingertips until now, i.e. 6 hours after the cooking.

Grilled Mackerel & Homemade Lemon Linguine

I love making my own pasta! I don't have a pasta machine, so I had to knead knead knead and roll roll roll. It takes a bit of effort but it's all worth it! The pasta you make yourself is healthy, with no preservatives, and  most importantly, it's very very al dente! 

I followed this recipe for making the pasta: 2 and 1/4 cups of plain flour, 3 eggs, and a pinch of salt. You may also add in different ingredients, say, minced garlic, chopped herbs or tomato paste to create a pretty flavored pasta!

Now am placing my little pasta nests under the sun to dry them up.

I roughly followed Jamie Oliver's lemon linguine recipe, drizzled some lemon juice and olive oil on top of my cooked linguine, seasoned it with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and mixed in a bunch of basil leaves and lemon zest. 

The mackerel (recipe adapted from Donal Skehan) was really easy and took me only 8 minutes to cook. I rubbed in olive oil, minced garlic and chilli, sea salt and ground pepper, lemon juice and zest on both sides of the fillet and let it cook on my lovely grill pan. So light, so tasty and healthy, I will have it for lunch very often from now on. :)

I will end this post with a cute little poem for all pasta-lovers. I found this poem from the Pioneer Woman website. Enjoy!

I love pasta in the morning.

I love pasta at night.

I love pasta when I’m happy

And when I’m filled with fright.

Pasta makes me happy.

Pasta makes me free.

I like to eat pasta

When I’m tuning into Glee.

Love, the Poet Laureate of County Road 4223