Pork, Chestnut & Cranberry Fusilli - #RespectThePasta

After the first challenge (which was a nice easy one) it was time to get into the kitchen and start cooking some pasta, following a few rules set out by ASK  ambassador, Theo Randall.

DO

• Use lots of boiling, well salted water
• Cook for 2 minutes less than the packet instructions and finish cooking in the sauce with a spoonful of cooking water
• Enjoy immediately in small portions in warm bowls or plates - "pasta waits for no man"

DO NOT

• Tip pasta into a colander to drain it - use tongs or slotted spoon to take pasta out of the water
• Test 'done-ness' by throwing pasta onto the walls
• Use too much sauce - coat the pasta, don't drown it

I decided to make a sauce using some dried cranberries and chestnuts that I had kicking around after Christmas - yes I know it's April, but I had them hidden away and forgot all about them!

Pork, Chestnut & Cranberry Fusilli - serves 4/5

4 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 tsp herbs (I used thyme & rosemary), finely chopped

200g cooked chestnuts, chopped

500g pork mince

100g dried cranberries

400g tinned tomatoes

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

150ml red wine

pinch salt & pepper

500g dried fusilli

• Heat the oil in a large pan
• Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 1 minute
• Add the herbs, chestnuts, pork mince and cranberries, and fry gently until the mince is browned
• Add the tomatoes, worcestershire sauce and red wine
• Stir well, place a lid on and simmer for approx 30 minutes
• Cook the pasta as per the rules above and add to the sauce with some of the cooking water as needed, and stir
• Serve with some chopped herbs on top

Chocolate Pretzel Easter Nests

It's almost Easter, and Easter means chocolate, right? I've already made some Easter cupcakes so I thought I should make some obligatory nests too.

I absolutely love chocolate covered pretzels and I thought that breaking some pretzels up and mixing them with melted chocolate would make the nests look like messy bird nests. Of course, doing this whole paleo diet thing I can't eat the damn things can I, so the job of eating them has been given to the husband and kids, and a few for a friend's little boy who hasn't got a lot of appetite at the moment due to chemotherapy treatment.

Chocolate Pretzel Easter Nests - makes 12

250g milk chocolate or chocolate cake covering (sets more quickly than chocolate)
150g pretzels, broken up (the salted ones - DO NOT use the sour cream ones!)
Mini eggs

• Melt the chocolate in a microwaveable bowl, in short bursts, stirring regularly
• Stir the pretzels in, mixing well
• Line a cupcake pan with cupcake cases
• Divide the mixture between the cases & pop some mini eggs into the centre of the nests
• Refrigerate until set

This is my entry to the Center Parcs and Tots 100 April challenge. If I’m chosen, I would like to visit Sherwood Forest. I was inspired to make these nests after reading the tips from Center Parcs Chief Creative Chef : "Mix some cereal, such as bran or broken up wheat, together with some melted chocolate and form the mixture in to nest-like shapes, leaving to cool for a finished nest"