Apple and herb pasta

We had one of those moments yesterday, where the best part of a kilo rather than a more modest amount for two people seemed to pour itself out of the bag into hot water. Half is now in the freezer, parboiled. The other half was in the fridge, awaiting salvation. There was very little in the fridge, but here (I am staying in a house with a herb garden) we had lots of onions, lots of herbs, and a sausage looking lonely. With fresh herbs, anything is possible. How I made it: slice sausage into as small pieces as possible and put into a large pan on a low heat (2) Dice a medium sized onion and add to the pan. Grate two small apples. Stir regularly to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Ruth chop/ tear two are leaves of sage, a small sprig of oregano/ thyme, chives/ small glove of garlic. Add to the pan. Keep stirring. I had LOADS of rigatoni. Good for pasta bakes. Not so good for other stuff. I roughly chopped about a cup and a half of them into smaller rings and chucked it in with the sauce. Threw in a good teaspoon of dijon mustard from the cupboard. Sadly not the Grey Poupon I would eat on toast, but good enough to balance out the sweetness of the apple. Final touch- ROCKET is growing in the garden. I stirred and then dashed out with the scissors, cut a good bunch, washed, rough-chopped (with a couple more sage leaves) and stirred into the pasta. Into a bowl. Topped with a bit more oregano. The apple makes a lovely sauce. Equally, you could purée the onions and apple together in a food processor for a similar effect, perhaps whizzing in (or grating) a courgette. Still mulling over it a couple of hours later. Yep. Good leftovers recipe!

Beacon Bruithe- Irish Baked Mushrooms

Oh, the olden days, when you could pick mushrooms in the fields...

But in the modern day you can pick them up cheaply in the supermarket and make a filling meal or breakfast for not too much. This recipe also allows you to use up stale bread and when it calls for sausagemeat, gives you the perfect opportunity to use up the last couple of sausages in the fridge (just take the meat out of the skins).

Ingredients
15 big mushrooms (or 1kg)
4 oz diced onions
4 oz bread crumbs (use up your stale bread or savoury scones- whole wheat is best)
4 oz sausage meat (you could use up the last few sausages)
1 tspn herbs (sage is good, but you could try chives, thyme, marjoram, garlic, parmesan, leftover cheese)
salt and black pepper to taste
butter or olive oil

Directions

1. Wash and peel the mushrooms. You can use the stalks- just make sure they are washed and cut off the dry end.
2. Set the oven to moderate.
3. Brush mushrooms with melted butter, or olive oil for healthier and quicker option
4. saute the onions in butter or oil. When they are translucent mix them with the breadcrumbs, the sausagemeat, herbs, salt and pepper.
5. Put the mushrooms in an oven proof dish, if you are using the stalks (we don't like waste around here!) also put them in the dish. Put a little water (~5oml) in the bottom and place the mixture into the mushrooms.
6. Bake for 15-2o mins

photo with thanks to ex.libris