Tuna Canneloni, my way

My better half, FF , eats warm meal once a day and that would be dinner when he gets back home from work. When my own work schedule permits, I love to tinker and  tackle recipes in the kitchen to serve him something worth looking forward to. But sometimes, I am simply too tired or too lazy to cook something that required more than half an hour on the kitchen counter.

Today was one of those days. I am whipped from work that when I got back home I simply went  straight  to the couch, lied down and was dead to the world in no time. I woke up late in the afternoon  to  cold house and an even  colder kitchen. So I checked whatever I had in the kitchen pantry and found a pack of cannelloni , a bottle of marinara sauce  and some tins of tuna. My exhausted husband came back home to an aromatic dining table and to well rested wife. Praised me for uhurm, another tedious looking and delicious tasting meal. What do yah know, this pasta recipe became a keeper.

Ingredients of this recipe are things I found in my pantry, fridge and pots of herbs near my kitchen window. 

Ingredients:

about 400 g Cannelloni shells
500 g marinara sauce
150 g grated cheese, more if you like it extra cheesy
( Emmantaler, Gouda, Mozzarella , Cheddar or your favourite melting cheese)

Tuna Filling:
2 cans of tuna in olive oil, drained
1 medium sized red onion, finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
400 g Kräuterquark ( or your fave cottage cheese)
a handful of parsley, chopped
salt and pepper and pepper to taste

Let's get cooking!

1. Mix tuna filling mixture in a big bowl until well combined. Test taste as season according to your preference. You can naturally add other species or chilis if you like it hot.

2. Fill each uncooked canneloni shell with your prepared filling. Lay stuffed canneloni on a greased baking pan. I made just 1 layer.

3. Pour  marinara sauce over the cannelloni. 

4. Spread marina sauce evenly .

5. Top it with your favourite melting cheese.

6.  Bake at 190° for about 30 minutes or until cannelloni is thoroughly cooked. Look at package's instruction.

Serve piping hot and with green salad. Yum!

Gnocchi in creamy garlic and spinach sauce

Sometimes, a good recipe requires very little effort and even less time to prepare. Economical and easy dishes are my  friends  and the   lick -smacking good  ones became my BFFs. One of my all time favourite recipe is this gnocchi dish. 

It's creamy, cheesy and  garlicky .What's not to like? 

 Aside from the gnocchi, two of the important components are garlic and baby spinach which are cheap and readily available almost everywhere. 

Although a friend of mine swears it's very easy to make your own gnocchi and how versatile this little knobs of carb could get once you master making them, I am simply too lazy to get my hand on the basic recipe. So I choose the most convenient way; the frozen section at our local supermarket. Fuzz and fail-free.  Good enough for me . 😉 

Ingredients:

500 g of gnocchi, cooked according to package instruction, 

my frozen ones requires only few minutes in boiling salt water

2 tbsp. butter

4-5 cloves of garlic, less if you're not a big fan, minced

2 tbsp. flour

1 cup cream + 1/2 cup milk

about 2 cups of baby spinach

salt and pepper to taste 

and as much Parmesan cheese as you like!

Let's get cooking!

1. Heat butter in a pan, saute garlic until aromatic. Stir in flour.

2. Make roux by add milk and cream into the pan. Stir until no lumps remain.

 3. Add your gnocchi , then the spinach. Season with  salt and pepper, cover pan for 2-3 minutes. Cook until spinach just wilted.











4. Turn off the heat, add your parmesan cheese and serve.  And Viola! Instant meal in no time.

One can not have enough cheese , so put that block of Parmesan on the table and add as much cheese as your conscience  will allow you!

One Pot Garlic Shrimp Pasta

I bought a pack of Pil Pil spice condiment in Malaga , Spain 2 months ago and have been using it quite often. I don't exactly know what's in it but it goes wonderfully well with seafoods and chicken. It's garlicky and a bit spicy . This pasta recipe is just one of the many dishes I've tried using this  spice. It's very simple yet deeply satisfying pasta dish which doesn't require a lot of washing. Lastly, only a handful of ingredients is all you need. An absolute keeper!

Pil Pil spice is also available in Amazon.

Ingredients:

250 g pasta , cooked according to packages instruction

400 g shrimps

1 tbsp. Pil Pil spice

2 tbsp. minced garlic

1/4 cup good quality olive oil

250 g cherry tomatoes, washed and keep whole

1 tsp. dried sage

Parmesan cheese, as much as you want!

a  handful of parley

salt and pepper to taste

Got 15 minutes ? Get a wide pot, pan  or even a wok and try this out!

Cook your spaghetti in salt water. Drain in a colander and set aside.

Put you pan, pot or wok back in the stove. Pat dry using a paper towel, heat olive oil in it and add the Pil Pil spice. If you can not find this condiment anywhere, just use mix smoked paprika powder and some chili powder.

Add the minced garlic. Sauté for 3 minutes.

Dump peeled, cleaned, deveined shrimps into the pot. Stir, stir  and stir until each piece is slathered in   the flavourful oil.

Next add the tomatoes. Please keep it whole. These are small bombs of flavour that burst in your palate in every mouthful. Cook  for about 5 minutes.

Add your cooked spaghetti into the pot. Carefully mix everything until .

Add your Parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper, garnish with chopped parsley and well, that's about it! Quick and easy, like I said!

Pasta Aligue with Garlic Shrimps

FF was huffing and puffing as he finally  deposit that brick of a luggage I was traveling with  in Asia. I had it with me from the Philippines,  dragged it along in Singapore, then in Bali before finally  hauling it back to Germany.

What's in there anyway, stones? He asked, as the ugly blotches of red slowly creep back off this sweaty forehead. My usually uncomplaining husband , the forever gentleman, who tend  forget that I could twist and turn patients twice my size and height and but never let be lift anything heavier than a basket of sweets when where together, groaned in exhausted frustration . We've been travelling for 36 hours and both of us are beyond weary when we finally reached our doorstep.

 He exhausted  inquiry turned to disapproving scowl as I open my luggage , exposing kilos upon kilos groceries! Yup, I bought cans  of cheap sardines, bottles of spread ,tins of biscuits among other things , as if I'm off to barren Antarctic for the next  6 months. I admit, I got carried away with buying things  that would remind me of home.
We have enough foods in Germany, you know. He reminded me, barely containing his sarcasm , as I put my loot into the pantry.

I will make it up to you, I promised my husband. Today, I had the chance to do just that.
I cook that Aligue ( crab fat) in a bottle I bought from the Philippines. How can something so inexpensive end up this delicious? If only I knew, what fine treat this cheap bottle  would bring to our plate, I should have wipe that grocery shelve clean!

The simple dish was so delicious, it's worth the Hernia risk!

Pasta Aligue

300 g of shrimps, peeled and deveined
1 tsp cayenne pepper

4 cloves of garlic

olive oil for sautéing
1 large onion, finely diced
3 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1/2 jar aligue sauce
300 ml shrimp or fish stock
200 ml cream
salt and pepper
handful chopped parsley
a pack of your favourite pasta, cooked

1. Season shrimp with sea salt,  let it rest for 5 minutes . Heat olive oil in the pan, add shrimps , garlic and cayenne pepper. Cook until it turns opaque, about 5 minutes or less

2. Transfer shrimps to a bowl, drizzle with lemon juice, season with more salt  if necessary, pepper and add chopped parsley. Set aside.

3. Using the same pan,   melt butter under medium heat. Saute onion until  soft and fragrant. Add flour. Deglaze with shrimp/fish stock. 

3.  Bring to a boil. Stir in aligue. Bring to a gentle simmer and add in cream. Season with salt and pepper.

 4. Cook pasta according to package's instruction. Toss over sauce until well combined.

Serve with garlic shrimps .

Salmon and Spinach cannelonni

FF was in the mood for some pasta and I was feeling a bit indulgent.  We've been having meat the entire week , so  we decided to have some fish instead. With green salad thrown in , we're less guilty of the calories we've taken. I try to pretend that the  butter and cheeses used were just just figments of my  imagination. It was a delicious lunch and worth it anyway. ( °_^)

Ingredients:

600 g salmon fillet

handful of chopped parsley

juice of one lemon

300 g spinach

4 cloves garlic

lasagna sheets ( I used 16 pcs)

oil of sautéing
60 g grated emmatelar cheese

Béchamel Sauce:

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. flour

3/4 l milk

100 g Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg

salt and pepper to taste




Cooking Instructions:

1. Heat oil in the pan, sauce spinach in garlic until just withered. Season with salt. Set aside.

2. Make béchamel sauce. Melt butter and flour in a sauce pan under medium low heat. Keep stirring until fragrant.

3. Pour scalding milk into the pot. Stir and bring to a gentle boil until it thickens a bit . Stir in Parmesan cheese, season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.  Set aside.

4. Cut salmon fillet into 1/2 inch cubes or strips. Drizzle with lemon juice. Add chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper.

 6. Assemble cannelloni. Bring salted water into a boil. Blanch lasagna sheet for a minute or until pliable enough to roll. Lay 1 just-cooked lasagna on a clean kitchen towel. scoop 1 tbsp. of spinach and few cubes/ strips of salmon fillet on the lasagna . Roll and put on a buttered baking /lasagna dish, seams facing down. 

7. Once bottom of the pan is filled with cannelloni, pour half of the béchamel sauce and grated cheese.

8. Put the second batch of cannelloni on top  of the first layer , using the rest of lasagna , spinach and salmon. Pour the rest of the béchamel sauce and sprinkle with cheese.  

9. Bake in a preheated ( 200  ° C) oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Let cannelloni rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with green salad.

Tuna Lasagne

A recipe that would certainly make Garfield happy. It's cheap, it's easy and it's delicious . You need no paw to like this too. Just make sure you cook enough of  to avoid any cat fight at the table.Okeeey I'm overreacting, too much tomatoes and tuna flake are invading my system right now, it simply has to get out. So grab your pans cause we're making some yummy lasagne!

Tunalicious Lasagne ala Emily

Step 1: Make the Tuna and Tomato sauce

Put 4 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan, heat under medium heat. Add in medium size chopped onion, sautee until translucent. Add in 2 cloves of crushed garlic and cook until aromatic. If I were Italian, I bet I will be hearing ''Mio Dio! or  Mama Mia'' and get pitted olives throwns at me for using canned or packed tomatoes in a pasta dish. But then, I like to make things easy so instead of having fresh tomatoes , I  settled for a mass produced chopped tomatoes----in a pack. Practical and efficient. Add in 2 packs ( about 400 g each) of chopped tomatoes into the sauteed onion and garlic. Stir in a handful of chopped oregano, thymes, basil and throw in 2 bay leaves. Add a tablespoon of white sugar and season well with salt in pepper. Stir in 3 cans of tuna in oil (drained) and take the sauce out from the heat.

Step 2: Make the Bechamel sauce

Bechamel sauce is a white sauce used in many French cuisine  as well as  in some Italian dishes such as lasagne. To make this basic white sauce, you need to make a roux. A what? A roux doesn't have fangs , breathe fire or walk on 8 legs, sidewards.It is  a cooked mixture of flour and fat ,usually butter. The thickness of this  sauce depends on the ratio of flour and butter.  Roux is traditionally equal parts of butter and flour but you can add more butter if you want your sauce to have a richer flavour. Under medium heat, heat 80 g of butter until melted, add in 50 g of flour and stir well. The roux will be rendering a freshly baked bread aroma after a minute or two. Add in 750 ml of warm milk while stirring constantly. The sauce thickens as it cooks. Season well with salt and pepper, add in about 50 g of grated parmesan cheese and take it out from the heat.



Step 3: Assemble the Lasagne

Spoon enough tuna sauce to cover the bottom of you casserole dish or baking pan. Cover the tuna sauce with lasagne sheets.  Some lasagne requires precooking. The one I used however don't have to be preboiled. Spread some bechamel sauce over the lasagne and cover it with thinly sliced mozzarella. I used about 4 mozarella balls in this recipe. You can use shredded melty cheese as well. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are used up. The last layer has to be the bechamel sauce. It will crisp up as it bakes. Sprinkle  50 g of shredded parmesan cheese. Bake lasagne at 180 °c for about 35 to 40 minutes or until the bechamel sauce turns golden brown and bubbly at the edges.

Serve pipping hot with green salad ( I know! I know!) and crusty garlic bread.

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Come to mama!

Tuning Tunas



I have an undying affinity for canned tuna ( meow?!) and I guess it grew on me when I was in college, away from home and was on a student budget. Canned foods and instant noodles, a student's dietary trick for survival..that and the 1 peso Isaw. At least that's how much  it cost then. (When I was still young and full of dreams...)

 Tuna is versatile and preparing it is not overly difficult. Come on! It's canned tuna! It could be mixed with almost anything .It could be used for salads, on pizzas, sushis, pies, turnovers, tortillas, quesadillas,  canapes, sandwiches , dips and you can fill in the rest . It could be fried, baked, sauteed and I even like to eat it plain and straight from the can!   Emily already licking the back of her paws....

So here is another delicious dish so easy to make  you can have it on your table blindfolded and with one arm tied behind your  back in no time.

Cannelloni with Tuna and Ricotta filling

Drain liquid from 2 cans of tuna ( plain or in  oil ) and put tuna flakes in a mixing bowl. Add 500 g of ricotta cheese.  Cottage cheese could be used as substitute for ricotta. Set aside, away from the cats.

Using a small spoon, fill each cannelloni with tuna flakes and cheese mixture and place it on a baking dish. It is advisable to use a baking dish big and wide enough to hold the entire pack ( 400 g) of cannelloni without piling them.

No layers please. It's not lasagne..

In another mixing bowl,  mix 400 ml cream and 250 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Using a whisk, combine these two things thorougly. Season the cheese sauce with salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over the stuffed cannelloni making sure each piece is submerged in liquid.

chop 125 grams of sun dried tomatoes. It gives the whole dish a pleasing salty and smoky taste. Scatter the chopped tomatoes over the cannelloni. Cover the baking dish loosely with aluminium foil and place it in a preheated oven ( 180°C) and bake for 20 mins. Take foil out and bake until sauce thickens and turns golden brown. Takes about 10 more minutes. Try not to burn the dried tomatoes as it will render a bitter taste.

Tasty...Tantalising...Tummylicious Tuna..