Pea, Pancetta and Applewood Spaghetti

Pea, Pancetta and Applewood Spaghetti

The door bell rings and I find a chap complaining to me about a roundabout a couple of miles up the road. I guess it's his way of saying, “Sorry, I'm late”. However, I'm a forgiving sort of person especially when I see he has a hamper of extremely nice goodies from Applewood Cheese.

I've been a fan of Applewood Cheddar for some years and now it is available in a spreadable version. In order to spread the word (see what I've done there?!). Applewood have been asking bloggers to conjure up recipes using some of the products as inspiration. So this is a simple and filling pasta dish which is quick to make. Perfect for when you are in a hurry because your delivery driver turns up late.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1tsp (5ml) Olive oil

1 Onion, chopped

100g Pancetta

150g Fresh peas

500g Fresh Spaghetti

4 tbsp (60ml) Applewood Spreadable

Method

1. Put the olive oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onions and pancetta until the onion starts to soften.

2. Add the peas and continue cooking for a couple of minutes on a low heat.

3. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti in boiling water. It should only take about four minutes.

4. Add the Applewood Spreadable with 4 tbsp (60ml) of the spaghetti cooking water to the pea and pancetta mix. Stir well.

5. Drain the spaghetti and stir through the Applewood pea and pancetta mixture.

6. Serve immediately – it will go cold quick!

Substitutions

I used the produce that was sent to me but here are some alternatives:

Replace the olive oil for vegetable or sunflower oil.

Instead of pancetta use lardons or dice some thick bacon. Cooking bacon works well for this.

Use dried spaghetti or other pasta of your choice. Dried takes longer to cook so put it on to cook at the beginning.

Applewood sent me the items for free. No payment was made for this post. Recipe, photos and words are my own.

Tuna and Vegetable Spaghetti

Veggies galore in this tuna and vegetable spaghetti dish

When I was a child the only pasta we used to eat was spaghetti. This was once a week on Friday when my Nan made 'Meaty Bolognese' and not a single tomato was used in this recipe. Until I was about 15 and Dad bought some penne not a single other variety of pasta came into our house (except tinned ravioli). Now the choice of pasta in shops takes up many shelves but spaghetti still remains a favourite.

Getting kids to eat vegetables can often be a tricky task so I find one of the easiest ways is to load it into pasta sauce. For some added protein there's tuna in this recipe but you could easily omit it if you just want to stick to the vegetables. My personal preference for tinned tuna is in just spring water as I like to keep the taste of it. So this isn't just another ordinary tomato sauce I've included some Kikkoman Soy Sauce for some added tang.

Serves 4

Ingredients

10½ oz (300g) Spaghetti

1 tbsp (15ml) oil, sunflower or vegetable

1 Onion, chopped

2 Carrots, finely chopped

1 Garlic clove, sliced

1 small tin of Tuna, drained (around 100-150g)

1 tin chopped Tomatoes (around 400g)

1 tbsp (15ml) Tomato purée

1 tsp Dried mixed herbs

2 tsp (10ml) Kikkoman Soy Sauce

1 Red pepper, sliced

1 Green pepper, sliced

Method

1. Start to cook the spaghetti in boiling water.

2. In a large saucepan heat the oil then cook the onion, carrot and garlic until the onion starts to soften.

3. Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, mixed herbs and soy sauce to the saucepan.

4. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat

5. Add the peppers and stir together.

6. When the spaghetti has cooked drain it and then put it in a large dish.

7. Add the vegetable tuna mixture to the spaghetti and stir together before serving.

Kikkoman sent the Soy Sauce for free to try and use. No payment was received for this post.