I was recently in Brighton for a conference Myself and some colleagues went to the Donatello restaurant in the Lanes. I had tagliatelle with prosciutto and mushroom. It was a nice pasta dish, nothing special though.
Pasta from La Panza
Close to my office in Bristol is La Panza, now an Italian restaurant, which use to be Chatterton’s Cafe.
They have a £10 lunch deal which consists of pasta, focaccia, and a drink. I liked the idea and on my first visit I had a nice plate of pasta and a glass of wine.
So when I was working in Bristol and wanting lunch, and not sure of where to go, I decided to make another visit to La Panza. I did their lunch deal for £10. I had a nice rigatoni pasta dish with a pork based sauce, a slice of focaccia and a glass of white wine.
I did think the pasta was a little undercooked, but the sauce was tasty. It was a delicious dish and I enjoyed it.
I feel quite continental drinking wine at lunchtime, but I thought it was really good value for £10 and it was nice to sit down in a restaurant (well this time I sat outside) and be waited at table and have your food served to you.
I would certainly go again.
Rigatoni Carbonara from the Grano Pasta Bar
The other day when I was visiting the Bristol Harbour Festival I saw that there was a new food stall in St Nick’s market. It was a pasta stall; it replaced the Chilli Daddy stall. I thought to myself I wouldn’t mind trying that. I use to avoid pasta in restaurants as more often than not it was overcooked and too soft. However more recently I have had better experiences.
So, needing lunch a few days later I headed off to the Grano Pasta Bar to try out their pasta. I don’t think I have ever had pasta from a street food stall before, so this was a new experience for me. In the back of the stall, you could see them making and forming the fresh rigatoni pasta.
All the pasta was cooked to order and they had about six choices. I went with the carbonara, other choices included pesto and ragu.
You could watch them cook the food. After a short while my box of pasta was ready and I took a seat to eat it.
This was not a huge portion, but perfect for a light lunch. The pasta was cooked perfectly, and I have to say that the carbonara sauce looked and tasted authentic, no cream here.
My only criticism was that I thought it was a little too salty. I realise that the guanciale is cured and salty, but I think overall the dish was little over seasoned for me. However, would I go again, I think I probably will.
M&S Collection Honduran Prawn & Crab Anglotti
The M&S at Cribbs Causeway was recently revamped, the food hall was refreshed and expanded. It has changed over the years, it use to have a cafe in the middle which disappeared.
On a recent visit to get some stir fry veg I had a look around and saw some fresh pasta from their collection range on sale, which I hadn’t see in my local M&S Food Hall.
One pack I picked up was the Beef Shin & Chianti Tortelloni, which I enjoyed. I also picked up the Honduran Prawn & Crab Anglotti. Described as fresh egg pasta parcels filled with prawn and crab in a cream, langoustine stock and brandy sauce.
Part of me thought, £6.50 for a pack of fresh pasta, that’s a bit pricey, but then thought, well the price of a steak is more than that.
It was quick and easy to cook. I dressed it with a little olive oil and some parmesan cheese.
Sometimes when I have bought crab filled pasta they haven’t really had that intense crab flavour I was hoping for. These however did have a really nice crab and prawn flavour.
I liked these, not sure I liked them enough to buy them again though.
M&S Collection Beef Shin & Chianti Tortelloni
The M&S at Cribbs Causeway was recently revamped, the food hall was refreshed and expanded. It has changed over the years, it use to have a cafe in the middle which disappeared.
On a recent visit to get some stir fry veg I had a look around and saw some fresh pasta from their collection range on sale, which I hadn’t see in my local M&S Food Hall.
Part of me thought, £5.75 for a pack of fresh pasta, that’s a bit pricey, but then thought, well the price of a steak is more than that.
The pack I picked up was the Beef Shin & Chianti Tortelloni.
Slow cooked beef shin in a rich ragu finished with parsley gremolata in hand folded fresh egg pasta.
It was quick and easy to cook. I served it with some crème fraîche and parmesan cheese.
The pasta was excellent, and the filling had a deep intense flavour. I thought they were delicious and tasty. Something I would get again.
Crab Ravioli
Did think about going out to the fish restaurant in Ealing but decided in the end to go down to the Drayton Court Hotel restaurant. I had some crab ravioli and a pizza.
I really liked the sound of the Crab Ravioli on the specials menu, it said it would come with some seafood foam…
The dish was not quite what I expected. The ravioli was nice, but the tomato based sauce was overpowering. I did enjoy the addition of the samphire though. Overall not a dish that I would order again, a lost opportunity there.
Rigatoni Pasta
Close to my office in Bristol is La Panza, now an Italian restaurant, which use to be Chatterton’s Cafe.
They have a £10 lunch deal which consists of pasta, focaccia, and a drink. I liked the idea of this, so decided I would try them out. I have been meaning to try out for a while, but I quite like a walk at lunchtime, so as it’s practically next door to the office, I often give it a miss. However this time, I went there after my walk.
Upon arrival, I wasn’t really given any kind of welcome, I had to wait a while before being seated. There is no seating downstairs, all the tables are upstairs. There is outside seating, but it was quite chilly for that, even with table heaters. The place was busy, which is probably why I had to wait a while to get my table sorted.
With the lunch deal, you have no choice about the pasta, they serve the pasta of the day. This time they had a rigatoni pasta dish with tomato, ham, and chilli. I am not sure what they would do if you were vegetarian, but there are some nice sounding pasta dishes on the main menu (but they’re not as cheap as the lunch deal).
Though I had to wait for the table, it wasn’t too long before my meal arrived.
Alongside the pasta was a slice of focaccia. I have to admit I was expecting a chunk of focaccia, but that’s on me, not the restaurant. The pasta was excellent, cooked to perfection and a delicious sauce. The bread was fresh, light and fluffy. As part of the deal you get a drink, and you have the choice of a coffee, a soft drink, or a glass of house wine.
I will take a little annoyance with the 10% service charge, I don’t mind paying for service, but for a lunch deal, couldn’t you just include the service charge in the price? To be honest the service wasn’t that good, however I paid the service charge. I much prefer it when the prices you see on the menu actually reflect the price you pay. It’s much worse in London where everywhere feels they can charge 12.5% or higher service charge. I am not sure what they’re thinking, yes pay for service, but make it part of the price of the food on the menu. It feels a little fraudulent to have “lower” prices on the menu, but these aren’t the prices you are going to pay.
The key question, despite that 10% surcharge, will I go again for pasta? Yes I will.
Orecchiette Pasta with Courgette, Mushrooms and Pancetta
I like eating Orecchiette pasta since eating it in London a few years back at the now sadly closed Paesan restaurant close to Exmouth Market. Orecchiette are a pasta typical of the Apulia region of Italy.
I cooked the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. I then in a large frying pan cooked off some pancetta before adding some sliced baby courgette and sliced mushrooms. When the pasta was virtually cooked I added some crème fraîche to the pan. The pasta was drained and then added to the pan and mixed in with the sauce. I plated the pasta before garnishing with freshly chopped parsley and grated parmesan cheese.
Unearthed Iberico Pork with Pasta
Once when I was staying in an apartment in London I had tried the Unearthed Iberico Pork, and had enjoyed it. Didn’t write about it though.
The ultimate pork meat which delivers an intense flavour! This award winning free range Iberico pork is from South West Spain. This ancient breed roams freely and forages for food. Iberico is widely revered as one of the best meats in the world due to its rich delicious flavour. Ibérico Presa Roaming freely in the dehesas, sparsely wooded pasturelands of quercus trees that can only be found in the south-west of Spain, this ancient grazing breed is perfectly adapted to this environment. Ibérico pigs are able to store large amounts of fat which makes the meat especially succulent and tender. The constant exercise and natural source of feed also mean that the meat is delicious!
I recently bought a pack from Waitrose,
I followed the instructions on the pack, cooking the steaks for three minutes each side, basting in butter. I let the meat rest and then sliced and served on a bed of butternut squash and sage tortellini.
The meat was very tender and full of flavour. I really enjoyed it.
Spaghetti Bolognaise
This is my go to recipe when making bolognaise. It has an intense flavours of beef and tomato. One thing I have found is that when using tinned tomatoes and tomato purée that not all are equal and some have better flavour than others. I have to say that my experience with own brand versions haven’t passed the taste test. More recently I have been using Mutti finely chopped tomatoes when cooking this dish.
It has the consistency and intensity of flavour I like when cooking bolognaise.
This serves four people.
500g minced beef, I try and get 5% fat mince, otherwise the end result can be a bit greasy. If you do buy the mince with the higher fat content, I would suggest after browning the mince to drain some of the excess fat or oil from the pan before adding the vegetables.
Splash of olive oil
One onion, diced
One red pepper, diced, I prefer the pointed peppers for this recipe
Handful of mushrooms, chopped
Splash of balsamic vinegar
Knorr chicken stock pot
Beef stock cube
Tin of Mutti finely chopped tomatoes
Mutti tomato purée
Garlic purée
I usually use a large pan with a lid, for cooking this dish. I heat the pan add the splash of olive oil and then brown off the mince until it is all done. If you have excess fat in the pan then drain the cooked mince and discard the excess oil and fat, then add the mince back to the pan.
Add the onion and pepper.
After a few minutes add the mushrooms.
Once the onion is soft and cooked, add the tin of tomatoes, the stock pot and stock cube, the tomato purée and the balsamic vinegar.
Cook for at least 30 minutes on a low heat. The plan is for all the flavours to infuse and for the beef mince to be cooked and tender.
Serve with spaghetti or a pasta of your choice. Add freshly grated Parmesan to taste, garnish with freshly topped parsley.
I used gluten free spaghetti, Rummo Spaghetti No 3 for this dish. I was really impressed with this spaghetti; it has a great texture and flavour.
Certainly, the best gluten free spaghetti I have cooked with. It isn’t the cheapest pasta on the shelf, but I think it’s worth the extra cost.
The last time I made this bolognaise, it was not as good as my previous versions. This one though was back on form.