Meatless Monday - The 21st Century Housewife's Tofu Pesto Pasta

Tofu is often associated with Asian or fusion recipes, but I find it works really well in Italian dishes too. This recipe is proper comfort food - tasty and warming on cool autumn nights. It couldn’t be easier to prepare, and if you use whole wheat pasta it is even more nutritious.

In all honestly, I’m still slowly coming to grips with tofu - it is something I enjoy eating but am still not a hundred percent sure about cooking with. I rely on the pre-marinated variety for most of my recipes as I find it less intimidating to prepare, but there is absolutely no reason not to use the kind you have to press and drain if you are braver than I am!

To serve four to six adults you need:-

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced

1 cup of mushrooms, sliced

1 cup of frozen peas, thawed a little if you have time

(or any other green vegetable of your choice - green beans work well here)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup of chopped or sliced tofu

(Do be sure that your brand of tofu is not made with genetically modified soy!!)

1 lb of pasta (I use whole wheat penne)

3 or 4 generous tablespoons basil pesto (homemade is lovely, but from a jar is okay too, just be sure that it is made with vegetarian cheese)

1 to 2 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream (you can use low fat if you like)

Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling, salted water according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion, red pepper and mushrooms for a couple of minutes until they begin to soften.

Add the tofu and stir fry for about five minutes, or as directed on the packaging. (If you are using green beans instead of peas add them here too.)

Stir in the peas, tomatoes, pesto and crème fraîche and warm through.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and return it to the pan. Stir in the tofu pesto mixture and serve in warmed bowls or on warmed plates.

Serve with some grated vegetarian Italian cheese to hand round at the table for garnish if you like. 

An Old Favourite with A New Twist - Piccolino Restaurant and Bar

There are some restaurants that you come back to time and again, firm favourites that you rely on when entertaining or when you fancy treating yourself to something you just know is going to be good. For us, one of those places is Piccolino, just off London’s Regent Street in Heddon Street’s restaurant quarter. My family and I go there often, and we always receive a warm welcome. Recently my husband and I went there on a Friday night and were delighted to see that Piccolino had updated their menu, adding some great new additions to their traditional favourites. We enjoyed it so much that we returned on the Sunday night with our son!

I’m a huge fan of their new Pear, Pecorino and Parma Ham Salad served on a bed of rocket and garnished with pine nuts.  It can be served as a starter or as a larger main course, and the flavours are just wonderful. If I were to visit for lunch, this is definitely what I would order.

We also love their Fritto misto, fried seafood and asparagus with a positively addictive garlic mayonnaise dip that can also be served as a starter or a main course. 

 Unlike some other restaurants, Piccolino know the importance of keeping their old specialties – like their amazing Pasta Carbonara and Trofiette – as well as introducing new dishes. You can see why we love their Trofiette, a pasta dish in a light cream sauce served with chicken and spring vegetables.

The chef at their Heddon Street branch is also wonderful at cooking and presenting fish and one of the specials when we visited last weekend was Cod on a bed of pea risotto with a light tomato dressing. Beautifully cooked and presented, there was not a single bone in the delicately flavoured cod, and the risotto was perfectly al dente.

Piccolino also have a really tempting dessert menu which includes a baked limoncello cheesecake garnished with candied lemons, panacotta with strawberries and basil and many decadently delicious chocolate desserts including a chocolate fudge pudding with vanilla ice cream that is utterly heavenly. They also offer seasonal specials, and on the Friday my husband and I succumbed to their beautiful strawberries and ice cream – their pistachio ice cream is probably the best I have ever tasted. We were good though, and shared - it was the perfect finish to a lovely meal.

Although there are several other locations in the United Kingdom, we have only ever visited the Heddon Street branch of Piccolino, and over the last three years it has become a family favourite. If you find yourself near Piccadilly Circus, do walk up Regent Street towards Oxford Circus and seek out the Heddon Street restaurant quarter on the left hand side.Whether you are celebrating a special occasion or just want to share a great family meal, Piccolino is well worth a visit.

The 21st Century Housewife's Eggplant & Zucchini Milanese

This is a really comforting and delicious meal, but it does take a little bit of effort and the timing is pretty important. Having said that, it tastes so good it is worth that little bit of extra effort! It’s a great way to use up those zucchini that get a bit over-grown in the garden, although it goes without saying that if you only have eggplant you can just use one or the other. You can also use normal size zucchini, but it does make things a bit more fiddly as you need more slices. The number of vegetables you need really depends on their size. Basically you want the equivalent of three or four large slices of the fried veggies per person.

Use whatever tomato sauce you like, be it homemade or from a jar.

Remember you need to be careful when working with very hot oil. It is really flammable and it spits, so take care! Be sure to remove the oil from the heat as soon as you have finished cooking.

To serve four people you need:-

1 to 2 eggplants, washed with the top and end removed, and sliced in half inch slices

1 very large zucchini, washed with the top and end removed, and sliced in half inch slices

½ cup flour

½ teaspoon salt

5 fluid ounces sparkling water

about 1 cup thinly shaved or grated vegetarian cheese (preferably mozzarella)

2 cups tomato sauce

about 12 ounces spaghetti (enough for 4 people)

sunflower or olive oil (not Extra Virgin)

Start the spaghetti cooking in boiling salted water as per the package instructions, and heat about a half inch of oil in a large frying pan.

Turn the oven on to medium (about 300℉ or 150℃), and warm a baking sheet.

Meanwhile, put the flour and salt in a medium size bowl. Gradually whisk in the sparkling water.

Place the tomato sauce in a saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Take a small spoonful of batter and sprinkle a few drops of batter in the oil. If it sizzles up nicely, it is ready. If not, get it a bit hotter. The hotter the oil, the less will be absorbed into the vegetables.

When the oil is ready, dip the vegetable slices into the batter (it’s best to cook the zucchini first) and put about four to five slices at a time into the oil. Leave the slices for two to three minutes and then just peek the bottom of one using tongs. Once you can see they are browning, then turn the slices over and cook for another couple of minutes on the other side. When both sides are brown, drain the slices on paper towels. Place the slices on the baking sheet and put a couple slivers of the cheese on top of each slice.

Put the baking sheet in the oven, and repeat the battering and frying steps with all the zucchini and eggplant slices, remembering to drain them, top with cheese and keep warm in the oven.

When the spaghetti is done, drain it and return it to the pan. Hopefully by now all your vegetables will be cooked, but if not, carry on cooking them, keeping the spaghetti warm and stirring occasionally from time to time.

Serve as in the photograph at the top of the recipe, with a bit of tomato sauce atop the fried eggplant and zucchini slices and a bit of spaghetti topped with tomato sauce on the side.  You can sprinkle some more cheese on top if you like.

The 21st Century Housewife's© Italian Style Beef Stew

I had some really nice chuck steak in the freezer and the other night I wanted to use it up, but I felt like eating Italian food so I used some of the flavours I remember from our visits to Italy. It turned out really well and I was very pleased as it is an easy, nutritious and economical midweek meal. It serves three to four hungry adults, and leftovers can be cooled and stored in the fridge for a couple of days, or frozen if you prefer.

I use my large shallow Le Creuset casserole for this recipe. If you have not got a large casserole that will go from stove top to oven, do the first steps in a frying pan and then transfer the browned beef and onions to an oven-safe casserole before adding the remaining ingredients.

2 – 3 tablespoons mild olive, sunflower or Canola oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic (optional)
1 pound of beef chuck, cut in cubes
½ cup flour
2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cups plain tomato sauce
or 2 small cans of chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
3 to 4 tablespoons basil pesto
1½ to 2 cups uncooked macaroni

In a large casserole that will go from stove top into the oven, gently fry the onion in 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat until it is beginning to soften. Dredge the chunks of beef in the flour and brown them, stirring frequently, along with the onion in the oil. (You may need to add another tablespoon of oil at this point.)

Add the tomato sauce or cans of chopped tomatoes, beef stock and the basil pesto and stir through well. Stir in the carrots. If you are using garlic, grate the cloves into the stew at this point and stir.

Cook in the oven at 350℉ (or 160 to 170℃ for an hour and a half, stirring every half hour.

If the liquid has reduced a lot, boil about a cup or two of water in a kettle and stir it in at this point as you are going to cook the macaroni in the sauce. (Careful not to overfill the casserole as the macaroni will displace the water when it goes in!) Add the macaroni, stir through and return to the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the macaroni is tender.

Serve with hot crusty rolls.

A Casual Midweek Dinner

We went out for dinner Thursday night on the spur of the moment, which is not usually a good idea when you live just west of London. Most restaurants are booked solid nearly every night of the week, and Thursday is often considered the warm up to the weekend, so your chances of getting a table on spec are pretty much nil. Sure enough, when we arrived at the fashionable canal-side in Reading, every restaurant we walked into was fully booked or had at least a forty minute wait for a table. We decided to try just one more restaurant before we gave up and went home, and went into 'Strada' without much hope, particularly when the couple in front of us turned down an offer of a table in about - you guessed it - forty minutes. The advantage was, there were three of us, and the host said he had a table that should be available in about six minutes. That didn't seem too long a wait, particularly as we have been to Strada before and really enjoy their creative menu and delicious food. And sure enough, we were shown to a perfectly laid table in less than the promised six minutes.

Although Strada do not have a bar area in their Reading branch, the restaurant itself is nicely laid out, so that you feel the buzz of being in a lively restaurant, but you've got plenty of elbow room at the table. Their menu is quite varied with lots of choices for just about everyone. As the majority of the food is prepared to order, should there be an ingredient you are not keen on they are more than happy to leave it out. Our son ate from the main menu, choosing one of Strada's delicious pizza Florentina. It had both cooked and fresh spinach which made for a delicious contrast.

My husband and I were impressed with their set menu which offered three courses for just £13.50 so we decided to work our way through that. It offered two choices of starter, Bruschetta con Peperonata and a Gnocci dish. I hesitated about the bruschetta because one of the ingredients was goat's cheese, something I really do not care for, but the waiter said the chef would be more than happy to leave it off so I chose that. It was really delicious with wonderful roast peppers, and a great way to wet my appetite. (Mind you as it was by now nearly 9pm my appetite was pretty sharp already!) My husband had the gnocci, baby potato dumplings with a delicious sauce. We both selected the same choice from the five main courses on offer for dinner, a Risotto Verdure with freshly grilled asparagus, broad beans, peas, courgettes and spring onions flavoured with grana padano cheese and mint. It was lovely and obviously freshly prepared as the risotto was perfectly al dente. All the vegetables were fresh and crisp and the balance of flavours was perfect. There were only two choices for dessert, a Tiramisu or a Pannacotta, so we decided to have one of each. Both were exceptionally delicious and definitely homemade.

I can't speak highly enough of the service. The waiter was friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. I was also very impressed that a refillable bottle of chilled filtered water and water glasses appeared when we ordered our drinks. It was refilled without hesitation throughout the meal - we did not even have to ask.

It's always hard to recommend a whole chain of restaurants in its entirely as the staff really do make or break these places, but the experiences we have had in our local Strada would encourage me to try one elsewhere without hesitation. The Strada website says that Strada "is all about quality, freshly prepared pizzas, pastas and risottos served in stylish, contemporary surroundings". In this case, it definitely is, and I highly recommend it.

I would recommend booking in advance if possible to ensure you get a table. Strada have locations through the UK and you can use their online booking service by clicking here. Our local branch which we enjoyed on Thursday is canal-side in The Oracle Shopping Centre at 20 The Riverside, Reading, RG1 2AG - telephone on +44 (0) 118 939 4861.

I'm also very impressed by Strada's website, which even offers video recipes. Click here to learn how to make some of their signature dishes from Maurice Maffeo, their Head Development Chef.


(This is a personal review. The opinions are mine and I was not compensated by Strada in any way.)