Melanzane

I think this photo shows my youngest’s feelings towards aubergine perfectly! He didn’t approve the first couple of times he had this dish, but he’s gradually getting used to it! The rest of us love it.

When serving this it’s perhaps worth reminding Picky Pickers that the sauce is the same as for pizza and so is the cheese, the only real difference is the aubergine.

Ingredients:

1 quantity of tomato sauce

1 aubergine

1 mozzarella ball – full NOT reduced fat, reduced fat really spoils the flavour.

fresh basil

parmesan cheese

olive oil for drizzling

Method:

1: Preheat the oven to 200 degress celsius.

2: Cut the aubergine into thin slices. Arrange in a single layer on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 10 mins.

3: In a pie dish, spoon in some of the tomato sauce to make a thin layer at the bottom.

4: On top of this put a single layer of the aubergines, then another layer of tomato sauce, and then about a quarter of the mozzarella torn into small pieces.

5: Do another set of layers of aubergine, then sauce, then cheese.

6: If you have aubergine and sauce left do another layer of each before using up the rest of the cheese as the top layer.

7: Add a good grating of parmesan and some torn up fresh basil leaves.

8: Turn the oven down to 180 degrees celsius, cover the melazane with foil and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.

9: Remove the foil, turn the oven back up to 200 degrees celsius, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown.

10: Serve with rice and salad.

Handmade Tagliatelle

You don’t need a machine to make your own pasta; it’s actually incredibly easy and fun to make by hand with your Picky Pickers! It takes a while, and is quite a workout, so I tend to save it for weekends.
Make sure you use 00 flour for this recipe, it’s extra fine and produces perfect pasta!
Serves 4 Picky Pickers or 2 grown-ups
Ingredients:
200g type 00 flour
2 eggs
a pinch of salt

Method:
1: Put the flour and salt in a mixing bowl and make a hole in the middle.
2: Add the eggs into the hole and beat the eggs with a fork.
3: Use your fingers to mix the eggs with the flour little by little until combined.
4: Knead the dough on a board until it’s formed a really smooth lump. This will take a while, and your arms will definitely ache!
5: Wrap the dough in the fridge and pop in the fridge for at least half an hour.
6: To roll out, dust a rolling pin and a board with more 00 flour. Roll the dough out, one small lump at a time, until it’s really thin. Fresh pasta dries out really quickly so it’s a good idea to cover the dough you’re not working on with a damp teatowel.
7: Cut the rolled out dough into narrow strips and dust with flour. I cut widthways so the strips are not too long, and make them about 2-3 mm wide.
8: To cook, put the strips in boiling water with a little salt and cook for just a few minutes until al dente.
9: Serve with tomato sauce and maybe some meatballs.