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.

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.

01.02.08: Scallop and bacon pasta

An improvised Friday nite special: He topped the trofie pasta with scallops, a lone piece of bacon from the fridge, portobello mushrooms, canned chopped tomatoes, butter beans, some sun-dried tomato puree, and fresh parsely.

HE SAYS: Pasta was a little overcooked, but the sauce was very satisfying. Agree with Her that the scallops didn't add that much, think I'll stick to prawns for this dish. A very quick and easy meal to make on a Friday nite.

SHE SAYS: Tasty and satisfying, nice intensity of flavour in the sauce. Could have done without the formerly frozen scallops - not bad, just not great. It was good to try them, but I think with scallops fresh is distinctly better. I like the trofie pasta a lot.

24.01.08: Home and away

SHE SAYS: The M&S crayfish sandwich is always decent filler on the train when I have to jet to a nighttime activity. I prefer their poached salmon sandwich, but this one was tasty and soothing, with just enough rocket to give it some kick.

HE SAYS: A quick, improvised dish of trofie pasta with king prawns, butterbeans, spinach and canned crushed tomatoes. Turned out nice, but the pasta could have been cooked longer, it was more al dente than I would have liked. Next time, I would add a little olive oil to the pasta...