This should feed 5 people easily. Adapted from The Little Swedish Kitchen by Rachel Khoo – I highly recommend the book and TV series.

• 500g tagliatelle pasta
• 350g hot dogs, chopped into small chunks
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 100ml double cream
• knob of butter or slash of oil
• splash of milk
• 2 tablespoons of capers, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
• heaped teaspoon of paprika (not smoked)
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• salt & pepper

Get a big pan of salted boiling water and get the pasta on.

Fry the onion and sausages in the butter or oil until the onion starts to brown. Add the cream, paprika and tomato puree. Simmer for a few minutes. Loosen the sauce with the milk and some of the pasta water if you think it needs it. Mix in the capers and spring onions. Serve.

• 2 x cartons of passata (Sainsbury’s Basics will do – or chopped tinned tomatoes)
• handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 4 or 5 anchovies from a jar
• 3 fat cloves of garlic, chopped
• sprinkle of dried chilli flakes
• 500g bag of really good quality pasta
• half a vegetable stock cube
• heaped teaspoon of brown sugar
• dash of Worcestershire sauce
• dash of balsamic vinegar or red wine
• salt, pepper, olive oil

Fry the chillis, basil and anchovies in some olive oil for a couple of minutes until the anchovies melt.  Add the garlic and cook briefly but do not allow the garlic to go brown. Add the passata and all the other ingredients except the stock cube and pasta. Bring to the boil and simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Fill a large pan with a lot of boiling water and add the stock cube and some salt. Cook the pasta according to the instructions. Use cheap ingredients for everything else, but the pasta must be the best you can possibly afford.

While the pasta is cooking, whizz up the sauce with a hand blender. This really does make a difference – you get a creamier sauce and the garlic and basil flavours permeate better.

When the pasta is cooked, make a half-assed attempt at draining it – you want the pasta to be wet. Add the poorly-drained pasta to the sauce. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and crusty bread. This really is quite delicious and a doddle to make.

(Not quite vegetarian, I know – but I guess you could omit the anchovies and Worcestershire sauce and try it with Henderson’s Relish instead?)

Serves 1 adult, 2 teenagers & 1 child.

Ingredients:

• 400g good quality pasta (I used De Cecco miniature penne)
• 23 frozen Ikea meatballs
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes
• splash of Worcestershire sauce
• teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
• half an onion
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 fat clove of garlic
• heaped teaspoon of sugar
• squirt of Heinz tomato ketchup
• half a bottle of red wine
• half a Knorr beef stockpot thingy
• 1 tablespoon of plain flour
• half teaspoon each of chilli powder, dried oregano, dried thyme
• salt, pepper
• some fresh basil & parmesan to garnish

Put the oven on – 225 degrees C – for the meatballs.

Finely chop the onion and fry on a low heat in the oil. As it starts to colour, add the garlic, chilli powder, thyme and oregano. Fry for another minute or so, taking care the garlic doesn’t burn. Slowly add the wine and then the beef stock cube. Add a can of tomatoes and a can of water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer for 5 or 1o minutes and add the Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, small amount of salt, pepper, sugar. Then add the sieved flour, and when you are happy everything is  cooked, blitz with a hand-blender. Check the seasoning, add ketchup to taste. Simmer and reduce for 15 minutes or so while you cook the pasta on the stove and meatballs in the oven.

You should end up with a thick, rich sauce. When the meatballs are cooked, plop them in the sauce pan (hey, I wonder if that’s where the name comes from…) so they soak up that umami-rich loveliness. Dish up a portion of pasta on each plate, add meatballs & sauce on top, garnish with shaved parmesan and fresh basil. EAT.

It’s an easy, delicious sauce for tagliatelle. I just used chestnut mushrooms.

http://www.secretsauce.co.uk/pasta-rice/tagliatelle-recipes/creamy-mushroom-stroganoff/

You will need:

• left over roast chicken meat
• half a box of mushrooms
• 250ml double cream or just over
• garlic
• 150g parmesan cheese
• 250g or more of linguine or spaghetti
• a glass of white wine or Noilly Prat vermouth
• basil

(Made enough for 2 adults and 3 small children).

Cook the pasta. Put the grill on.

Thinly slice the mushrooms and fry in a little oil with the chopped garlic. Add the cooked, diced chicken and fry for a bit to warm it through. Turn up the heat and throw on the wine or vermouth. Inhale deeply. Reduce the wine a bit then pour on the cream and brink to the boil. Add some salt and a lot of freshly ground pepper.

Take the pan off the heat. Stir in most of the grated cheese and the chopped basil. Mix in with the pasta in an oven dish sprinkling some parmesan on top. Zap under the grill until golden brown on top.

2 out of 3 of my children wanted seconds.

- Farfalle
- Anchovies
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Chili flakes
- Broccoli – chopped finely, stalks and all
- Pine nuts

Fry the garlic, a few anchovies, chili flakes and broccoli in some olive oil in a pan with the lid on. Add water from the farfalle pan as needed to stop it burning. Cook until the broccoli is soft and the farfalle cooked. Drain farfalle and combine with the sauce. Throw some toasted pine nuts on top. Delicious.