Dibble's Alphabetty Spaghetti

I found some Alphabet Spaghetti in Sainsbury's one day for 95p and I could not resist buying them. I am so glad I did, as it went down a real treat with my kids. 
Not only does this dish take 10-15 minutes to make, but it is good for your little ones and you. 
Enjoy cooking

Ingredients:
-1 bag of alphabet pasta 
-1 shallot
-1 pot of double cream
-1 small (or half large) passata 
-1 block of cheese (mature is better)
-1 handful of spinach
-2 large mushrooms
-1 loaf of bread (I have used Hardough bread for mine)

• Start by putting a pan of water on the boil, and adding 2 handfuls of the pasta to the boiled water to cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Whilst the pasta cooks chop your shallots and mushrooms into small pieces, and finely chop the spinach. 
• Strain off the pasta (use something that has small holes, I made that as the pasta is small. pour a tsp of olive oil over the pasta, mix it in and leave to the side. (The olive oil is nothing remotely fancy, it just stops the pasta from sticking together)
• In the same pan, place a little olive oil and the shallots, then bring to a low heat. After a few minutes,add the passata and veg, then stir on a medium heat for a minute.
• Add a tbsp of double cream to start and stir in, then add a little more (I estimate 1-2 egg cup size). Add a pinch of mixed herbs if you want and bring back to a low heat. 
• Grate a small handful of cheese, add to the sauce and stir in well. 
• Now add the pasta and mix into the sauce. Turn off the heat and put your bread in the toaster. 
• Once your bread has popped up you can butter it, and then arrange on a plate (you can even grate a little more cheese if you want).

All that is left now is to enjoy. I made mine after work and it took me 15 minutes. My youngest is very fussy and this was one of the few times that she cleared her plate. You cant get better feedback than that. :)

Yumbers Burgergines

My burgergines went down a real treat at home, I was looking for another way of cooking with aubergine and when a colleague gave me the idea of slicing them nice and thick like a burger, it gave me the idea of turning them into a burgergine so that the kids would not be put off by eating them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.



 Ingredients:

-1 large aubergine

-1 pot fresh tomato salsa

-1 courgette

-1 tomato

-4 burger buns (or cheese and black pepper muffins)

-1 shallot 

• Start by slicing the aubergines the about 1.5cm thick. once you have four of these rub each side with olive oil, sprinkle some seasoning of your choice on each side(I prefer Cajun seasoning on mine), then set them aside. 
• Slice your courgette, shallots and tomato finely, then set the tomato aside for later. 
• Switch on the frying pan on a mid-level heat and leave for a few minutes to heat up. Once hot, place the aubergine slices in the frying pan and press lightly with a fish slice.
• Whilst they are frying get the rolls and cut in half. I like to put mine in the toaster for 1 minute and put butter on one half. Flip the aubergine over then put in the courgette and shallots to fry. flip the courgette after 20 seconds and keep tossing the shallots. 
• Once the aubergines are done, you start building your burgergine. you can also add lettuce and cheese to yours.

Once built you can sit back and enjoy this tasty veggie dish. I enjoyed mine as an extra with hot-dogs and wings on USA Night in my house. My hubby is not usually one for aubergine, but he wolfed this down and asked for more so I guess I did something right.