Category: Pasta

14th March 2021

Axoa, a Basque veal dish

I had been reading a book that involved a police woman from the Basque country and I wanted to prepare something of the local cuisine. Axoa is a dish of simmered shoulder of veal with peppers, chili and Espelette chili powder. I first cut a red and yellow bell pepper into small squares and chopped up a large onion. Then I sliced the veal in […]

18th November 2019

Pasta with clams, Saint Jacob scallops and squid

This weekend was the “Foire aux harengs et à la coquille de St Jacques” in the coastal town of Dieppe but we could not go to the Normandy port.

To mark this weekend of herring and scallops and encourage the hard-working small-boat fishermen there, I made a dish with scallops from my local fishmonger.

5th June 2017

Sweetbread, fava beans, ceps and pasta

I have a love-hate relationship with offal. I have never eaten brains, testacles or heart and do not intend to either. I did have to change my attitude to duck hearts, though, so who knows. But kidney, liver and sweetbread I do like. Offal is rather perishable so you need to buy it fresh from a reputable shop. On one of my weekly visits to […]

22nd November 2016

Spaghetti with spinach, garlic and vacherin cheese

I like spinach. I do not believe it makes me strong like Popey the Sailor Man (and he ate them from cans…) but it is healthy. On the farmer’s market in the town here they sell “cold-ground” spinach, big rough leaves with a snail here and there. It will not last when it starts freezing. Start of winter is also the beginning of the season […]

24th June 2016

A simple veal cutlet

I am spending more and more time at my new house in the Ariège region. The kitchen is not ready yet so I keep things rather simple. In this rural region, there are many producers that bring their ware directly to the market and raise their livestock with care. There is a lady with a van on the Mirepoix market on Monday morning with meat […]

22nd May 2016

Penne with clams, tuna, garlic, chilli pepper and tomato sauce

I returned from the market with some clams as I planned to make spaghetti but once back home there were some items missing in the larder, like spaghetti, and I was not sure about the caloric boost by the cream. But there were other things on the shelves, in the fridge and in the windowsills so I made a simple dish with penne.

11th April 2016

Veal kidney with ceps and pasta

There was an offer on veal kidney on the market and I bought some. Two went straight into the freezer and one was for a weekend meal. I had been reading several recipes, and discussed it with my hairdresser as one does in France. What had caught my eye is that in several Italian recipes (for rognoni) the kidneys are first put in a bowl […]

7th September 2015

Pasta with snails

Here in France we eat snails. Not alive, but pre-cooked. You can buy them in jars and on a recent journey in the Creuse I had bought one from a local producer. The jar sat in the fridge for several weeks and I needed to come up with a plan to use them. The classic way to eat snails is to cook them and put […]

18th January 2015

Veal kidneys with pasta and cauliflower

I must confess that this dish came together because what I had left in the refrigerator when we wanted to have veal kidney. There was still half a cooked cauliflower waiting for use. The rognons are popular in France. In the Netherlands, most people would not think about eating it. In England, the kidneys of the adult cows enter in the steak and kidney pie. […]