17.12.08: Pesto and pea risotto

A night out to see the Boosh initiated an early dinner. He prepared the risotto with some of the pesto He made and froze earlier, and added the usual suspects to make the risotto dream a reality. A mixed leaf salad with sweetfire beetroot, radishes and avo stopped by for a chat.

HE SAYS: Instead of the alternative of grabbing a bite and running to catch a train, this meal was a lot more civilised and tasty. If only I could get the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot it would be the perfect no-fuss, easy meal and light washing up deal everyone can enjoy. I ended up soaking the pan overnight, which did the trick of lifting the remnants of the night before. The return of the shweetfire variety of beetroot was a pleasant addition to the salad, not unlike an old friend you haven't seen in a while, popping round for a cuppa.

SHE SAYS: Certainly more of a gourmet turnout than I was expecting before embarking on our 45-min journey to the zooniverse of the Boosh. Lots of meaty porcini added delicate flava to the savoury pesto richness. My only quibble was the speed of consumption, which delivered too much to my tummy too soon.

04.12.08: Spelt penne pesto pasta

He baked a butternut squash beforehand and defrosted some pesto. She cooked it all up with some portobello mushrooms and thus re-created a squash and mushroom, pesto, spelt penne pasta extravaganza. The bnz and hazelnut salad from last night nuzzled up beside it.

SHE SAYS: Meh. It was ok. The squash mushed up in the pan and didn't exactly stir my appetite. To be fair, I had come home and devoured more smoked salmon than was wise, straight out of the pack, so I really wasn't hungry. The pesto was as deeply delightful as always but I could only toy with my fork and look forward to a speshy lunch. The salad was another overnite champion, staying fresh and crunchy, so I added it to my lunchbox for the next day with quiet anticipation.

HE SAYS: Not the prettiest pasta dish She has ever made but pretty tasty nonetheless. The squash was baked with just olive oil and salt n' pepper allowing, the natural sweetness to come thru and mix with the savouriness of the pesto nicely. The spelt pasta was definitely less heavy on my tum then the usual white variety, and, coupled with the bnz salad, made for delish and healthy grub.

27.11.08: Pea, pesto and mushroom risotto

Playing it safe, He put together this favourite made up of peas, homemade sundried tomato pesto, regular mushrooms and dried porcini 'shrooms too, pairing it with a spinach salad of avo, julienned carrots, and physalis. And he even managed to plate it in time to get Us out the door for a members-only open house at the Tate.

HE SAYS: I think the dried porcini mushrooms added another kind of intense savoury flavoursome something to this batch. I forgot to dress it with the usual sprinkle of parmesan cheese and basil but I don't think it suffered for it. The avo was nice and creamy in the salad tonight, by the way.

SHE SAYS: Always cheered to see a bowl of this risotto coming my way. The usual raves apply: garlic-basil-parmesan heaven from the pesto; luxurious texture from the arborio rice; and a subtle richness from tthe mushrooms. Quibble: the peas needed a little more time to soften, but they were ok. Thouroughly enjoyed the mix of sweet, tart, crisp and smoooooth from the salad too.

15.11.08: Pesto pasta with carrot and pumpkin seed salad

He remembered to defrost the fresh sundried tomato pesto He'd made a few weeks ago and She came up with tonight's dinner plan as well as cookin' and stirrin' the pesto, some spelt penna pasta, grilled portobello mushrooms, grilled butternut squash and parmesan shavings. The salad was a concise affair: julienned carrots and roasted pumpkin seeds on a bed of mixed leaves. The rest of the wasabi dressing stood by to help out.

HE SAYS: She added some white wine to the mix and it helped add a more rounded, intense flavour to the ever so rich and satisfying milieu. The mushrooms were meaty and the squash was an inspired choice with its sweet syrupy deliciousness shining thru. The pesto was a pretty good batch; it freezes well and defrosts in seconds (okay, a few hours). It's miles above the oily stuff available in stores. Roasted pumpkin seeds make any salad better but especially this one. (Paired with its orange cousin, the humble but brilliant carrot, it seemed to try a little harder to impress).

SHE SAYS: I was slightly afraid the butternut would be a bit too heavy with the pasta, but it simply added a nice Thanksgiving-like note to the proceedings. I only salt 'n' peppered the squash this time before roasting, and it was still amazingly sweet, proving the perfect foil for the soy-sauce drizzled mushrooms and mmmworthy tangy, garlicky pesto. (This sounds like too high a pile of flava-flavs, but it all balanced in an autumal savoury way). Would def. pair butternut and mushrooms again. Salad offered a similarly sweet, roasty flavours, but added crunch and bite.

10.10.08: Risotto redux and traditional Austrian fare

While She is out of town for a few days, He warmed up the rest of the pea, mushroom and pesto risotto and added a new rocket, tomato, radish salad along with yesterday's dressing.

HE SAYS: A quick, easy and thoroughly nourishing evening meal. Who would think that risotto is fast food? The salad was given a boost by the dressing, having intensified in the fridge for a day, yum. Meanwhile...

She simply could not get away with covert dinnertime photography while surrounded by curious colleagues, but She can detail the 4-course menu served in the ASI Lodge dining room pictured above. Vegetable strudel on tomato sauce; 'Oberlander' creamy cheese soup; charfilet fish (billed as 'like salmon' and bred near the lodge) with a zucchini-tomato ragout on 'coloured noodles'; and pancake filled with apricot jam topped with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

SHE SAYS: Given how many of my entries begin with 'after a tough day at work', a weekend getaway to Austria courtesy of the co. was v. welcome in some ways (multiple-course meals being but one of the luxuries on offer), and less welcome in others (more time with the people you see most anyway). Food was not a hugely strong suit, but it was perfectly nice.

The strudel encased a mildly savoury puree of some sort of veg, and the tomato sauce was mildly sweet. The soup was the star, a shallow bowl of thin cream artfully streaked with some sort of brown salty sauce. Most people thought the fish was amazing, but I thought it was merely ok; it was nothing like salmon, more like grilled catfish but not quite as strongly flavoured. Noodles and ragout were enh. (Sorry, 'enh' is all I can think to call it!) Dessert was just as you'd expect, and not remarkable, just indulgent, and a bit heavy after strudel pastry and pasta.

10.08.08: cod with green bnz, corn and pesto

This recipe from Real Simple has one-pan convenience, healthfulness, and a different (for us) veg combo going for it. Pan-toasted halloumi, plain beetroot, avo and spinach/watercress added richness to the Sunday nite proceedings.

HE SAYS: The cod was an unusual diversion for us (used to be dirt cheap, a lá fish n' chips, now a posh and expensive fish) and I enjoyed its subtle flava and flaky consistency, no need for breadcrumbs and deep frying. The veg medley was also pretty tasty and fresh, no cream or butter necessary. The corn was especially edifying naked and, give or take one or two glugs of white wine, it needed no more thrills or bacon to embellish it. Talking about bacon, the halloumi from M&S was very nice, the texture was firm, the squeak factor was high, the salt content reasonable and the hint of mint deducible. Overall, far better then Tesco's own version and a close second behind Waitrose's offering. I found the beetroot in the salad sans sweet fire or lime marinades tickled my taste buds a trifle too. Who knew?

SHE SAYS: Top Tip: add 1/4 cup white wine to the pan instead of the water the recipe calls for; it's an easy way to add a little extra flavour and sophistimication you won't want to miss. Although I was happy to spoon in some ho-made pesto I had handy, I do think the veg would be great even without it, as long as you add the vino and some capers. The cod had lovely delicate flavour and decent texture, though I almost overcooked it. Vinegary beetroot without the usual dose of sugar from the brand-flavoured varieties held up pretty well, but the nite really belongs, as always, to the bacon of cheese, this time from M&S. It seemed firmer and released less liquid than other varieties - would be great in my saag halloumi.

30.07.08: Quorn, fresh tomato-olive sauce, pesto gnocchi and snap peas

Bit of a mish-mash tonite: She was taking it easy with 2-minute gnocchi rolled in her freezer stash of ho-made pasto, a quick flip of lemon-pepper quorn escalopes in the pan, and snap peas zapped in the m-wave...but the thought of a dry quorn cutlet sticking in the throat sent Her to the store for some tomatoes and raiding the fridge for remaining garlic-stuffed olives (not to mention tipping in a little red wine) to make a fairly quick sauce. Salad of mango, beetroot and moz balls nestled in rocket leaves nearby.

HE SAYS: The gnocchi was tasty because of the yummy pesto but succeeded in putting me on the bloat boat bound for Stodge City and consequently I temporarily sport a more rotund profile. I enjoyed the special tamater sauciness over the top of the chi-qourn cutlets best, and the snap peas offered another fresh and crisp escape from the starchy gnocchi. The salad also was a fruitilicious and zingy addition to this food cruise.

SHE SAYS: Figured I'd use up that second pack of gnocchi we froze, but I'm not tempted to get it again - it becomes mush within a minute, and I thought it might disintegrate as I stirred in my pesto. V. filling but not v. nice, tho' the pesto was tangy and savoury enough. The 2-minute snap zap is highly recommended - the peapods emerge crispety-juicy and bright green. And how I do luv the quorn, esp with this sooper-easy sauce - no choppin' and not so much stirrin'. Salad was sweet and spicy, but I ws already experiencing the great potato expansion and couldn't finish.

14.07.08: Milanese risotto with strawberry salad

Monday means it's time for the world's easiest risotto, with peas, mushrooms, and ho-made pesto (made previously). None of this stand-over-and-stir bidness, you pile it all in the pot and boil it down. Recipe on offer if you ask!

HE SAYS: Although simple to make, this dish is everything but simple in taste. The variety of 'shrooms and the wine all help to give it a complex and luscious range o' flav-a-flavs. I could've eaten more if not for holding back a portion for lunch tomorrow (which will be even more intense in the flavour department after having time to brew). The strawberry salad waz good but then you add the balsamic vinegar and, wow, it goes off the taste chart entirely.

SHE SAYS: I think I added a tad too much white wine (at His urging) as had more tang than I would have liked. No matter, it was still a winner with a soft but not gloopy grain and an excellent competition between the basil and parmesan for flavour kingship. The modestly named English strawberries can compete with their Jubilee cousins any day, and carried off the balsamic drizzle ever so sweetly.

09.06.08: Risotto with mushrooms and peas

Play it again, ma'am: She used up the second tub of ho-made pesto from the freezer to throw together the world's easiest risotto once again, then used Her ample free time (ha!) to concoct a salad of physalis, bunched radishes, cherry toms, and young mustard leaves.

SHE SAYS: Even more flavourful than last time, though I've no idea why. Maybe I snuck in a little more boullion. Nice balance of savouriness to bright pesto flavour, and I didn't even think about salt. Would like to take it up a level with a few porcini mushies next time. I've searched high and low for this recipe online since we found it in a free paper, but said free paper pretends that it doesn't publish recipes even though its site lists every other minute topic it covers in print. Well, folks, if you want it let us know and we'll type it on out....but you gotta ask!

HE SAYS: Wow, tonight's risotto was exceptional, better then last week's version, and that was mighty tasty too. The rice was so well-cooked - soft and a little mushy but not glue-like - and the
consistency of the whole dish was right on. I think the chicken stock and white wine fusion brought this too another level of yum. I love pesto in pasta, but mixed in with the mushrooms and wine/stock, it created a new way of appreciating its intense flavour. The salad also had a nice crunchy element, what with the radishes, and a tart element what with the physalis. We ate the whole salad bowl portion, but we have some risotto left for lunch tomorrow, by which time the taste will be outta this world.

01.05.08: Risotto with mushrooms and peas

A serendipitous sensation: on the train home last nite, He ripped a recipe our of some freebie mag left on the seat, and tonite She cooked up a Milanese Risotto starring peas, chestnut and oyster mushrooms, white wine, chicken broth and spring onions, plus pesto handily rescued from the freezer. (Actually, there's nothing Milanese about this risotto - normally that's v. plain, with just a few saffron threads - none of this veggie and pesto nonsense.) A salad with garlicky olives, some sundried tomato and tiny bits of lemon filled in any remaining corners.

SHE SAYS: Mmm-mmm good! I had my doubts about this recipe, as it required very little stirring and no sauteeing of any ingredients except the rice (was this reeeally a risotto?) - and I admit I was feeling snobbish about the frozen pea component. Well, bust my buttons, was I wrong! It was rich yet subtle, creamy and satisfying - and not as goosome as many another risotto I've made. It was also the easiest risotto I've ever turned a hand to, so I'm sure it will have an encore.

HE SAYS: Agree with her, it was fab. Lots of intense gravy-esque sophisticated flavours and meaty mushroom textures made this a winner. Salad weren't bad neither, espesh with lemony garlic olive type fixin's, ooh mama.

24.04.08: Pesto pasta with prawns and mushrooms

A random combination: She whizzed up some pesto from lots of basil and sundried tomatoes; sauteed fresh green garlic, portobello and chestnut mushrooms, rocket and two kinds of M&S prawns; and combined it all with some trofie pasta dug out of the cupboard. Boiled chantenay carrots modestly filled out the plate, while the salad He threw together from the remains of all the week's salad fixings looked on.

HE SAYS: Luv the pesto pasta, luv you long time. The trofie may have been a little south of aldenté but it didn't spoil the luxuriously fragrant and tasty ho-made pesto, and what with the sweet sundried tomatoes, what's not to like? Enjoyed the mushroom selectsheeun cooked with dark soy sauce - a hint from Helois, they taste better for it, any dish, any time. Carrots acted as a fresh and uncomplicated companion to the rest of the the plate, no thrills or bells and whistles, just good plain carrots goddamn it. Salad was a veritable mix of all things vegetable (no fruit action tonite) but the fancy olive oil she picked up on sale put it in another league, uh-huh.

SHE SAYS: I rather overcooked the pasta - it's tricky to get right - but the sharp, fresh pesto flavours rescued it somewhat from being a complete bland state of mush. The mushroo-prawn mix was v. tasty, and who knew fresh garlic was so tender and almost milky? V. nice, indeed. The carrots made surprisingly easy eatin' and did not languish on the plate til the end as I feared they might. Salad did its job of refreshing and filling.

29.02.08: Roast veggie pasta and salad

She improvised a sauce for the intriguing spelt penne pasta by roasting an aubergine, red peppers, portobello mushrooms and courgettes, then piling it all in a pan with a can of cherry tomatoes, some leftover pesto, a few good dollops of Her ho-made harissa, and half a bag of fresh spinach. A sprinkling of chopped fresh basil and slivers of grana padano topped the main dish, while spinach and Sweetfire beetroot salad ultimately finished the plate.

SHE SAYS: Not bad at all, though for all of those ingredients, the one that really pulled it all together was the harissa. I think I'll just have to make it once every couple of months forever - the minty-spicy-salty combination is incredibly rewarding. V. pleased with the spelt pasta: compared to normal pasta, there's far less of a bloat-boat effect, and the taste and texture are indistinguishable from 'regular'.

Top tip: if ever you decide to make harissa, add a tablespoon of dried mint. I've not seen one recipe on the web yet that calls for this, but it's positively essential to make it mmm-worthy (good old Medina Kitchen!).

HE SAYS: Very nice, spelt pasta was better than whole wheat pasta and tastier than corn pasta. The sauce was a success with the roasted veg and the harissa added the necessary punch.

18.02.08: Mediterranean salmon

Tomato heaven: He made Ramsay's Salmon with Mediterranean Flavours (studded with sundried tomatoes, basil leaves and olives), then whipped up some sundried tomato and basil pesto to toss with trofie pasta and pan-roasted red pepper and portobello mushrooms. Her Mardi Gras salad - mango, beetroot, cucumber, and spinach - looks on with envy.

HE SAYS: Lovely meal. Salmon was very tender and had a poached-like consistency. Pesto was not as intense as I had hoped, but there's some left over, and hopefully it will intensify in the fridge for next time. Overall very happy and will try the salmon again. Also, I love the beetroot.

SHE SAYS: This made a Monday evening much nicer. The unexpected combination of flavours with the salmon worked very well and made for a pretty plate. The pasta was cooked perfectly this time, and I thought the pesto fragrant and lemony. New odd-combo discovery: mango and Sweetfire beetroot make a delicious duo.