one lovely red vine ripened tomato..

I'll be out the next few nights, so there was no point doing a food shop. I just had to make do with what i had at home. Thankfully i had one bright red, perfectly ripe tomato.. still attached to it's green stalk..

Tonight's dinner:

ingredients:

one vine ripened tomato (only buy these.. they smell divine) 

lemon rind

one clove of garlic (two if you like.. 3 if you're like my friend who is a garlic freak!)

a table spoon of baby capers (rinsed if they are in salt)

olive oil

pasta* - enough for one person (i used curly fettucine, which probably has a fancy italian name too)

freshly ground pepper

sprinkle of sea salt

freshly grated parmesan 

bring water to boil in a large saucepan and add pasta (cook according to the instructions on the packet)

while the pasta is cooking, chop the tomato and drain off / squeeze out a bit of the excess juice

cut a very thin slice or two of rind off a lemon, and chop it up very finely

slice the clove(s) of garlic very thinly.. it is better sliced rather than crushed for this dish

chop the baby capers roughly 

empty the pasta into a colander and set aside 

place the empty saucepan back on the stove... add olive oil - enough to nearly cover the bottom of the pan.. (sorry not good with measurements..) 

heat the oil (medium heat should be fine after cooking the pasta)

add the garlic, capers and lemon rind and a small amount of the chopped tomato to the pan and stir to keep from sticking.. 

when the garlic seems to be cooked a bit, add the pasta back in and stir through. 

add the rest of the chopped tomato and stir through gently so that the tomato is warmed but not cooked

remove and serve with a lot of freshly ground pepper, a sprinkle of sea salt and the parmesan 

*pasta comes in all shapes and sizes. Try different kinds. Don't just stick to spaghetti.. for this dish the curly fettucine holds tomato and oil really well. 

the once, twice ... even three times a week favourite: pizza

When it comes to pizza for one, the Lebanese bread pizza is the perfect solution! Ordering home delivery usually means waiting around for an overly salty, almost cold, greasy pizza which is too much for one person (but that one person usually only realises this after polishing off the last piece.. ) 

Lebanese bread is the ideal size for a one-person-pizza* which can be whipped up in a few minutes.

Tonight's dinner:

Ingredients:

one Lebanese bread (I always have a bag of it in the freezer) 

one sachet of Leggos Pizza sauce (one sachet is exactly the right amount to coat one piece of bread. Very annoyed the local supermarket isn't stocking any at the moment...) 

2-3 mushrooms, thinly sliced 

a handful of grated pizza cheese (usually a mix of mozzarella and a tasty..  always have it in the fridge) 

freshly ground pepper 

pre heat oven at 200 ℃

coat the Lebanese bread with a thin layer of the pizza sauce (one sachet) 

carefully cover the entire surface with the thin slices of mushroom

evenly cover with the grated cheese

place the pizza directly onto the wire rack of the oven - this allows the base to crisp up

cook for about 10-12 mins, keeping an eye on it.. remove when the edge of the bread has started to brown (not burn!) and the cheese is golden. 

remove from the oven and season which freshly ground pepper.

devour!

This mushroom pizza is the simplest version, and I usually make sure I have these basic ingredients on hand, however other "fancy" versions will no doubt pop up here in weeks to come. 

*some guys might want to supersize and make two.. 

two veg and bacon in the oven

The simple things in life are often the best, which is the well kept secret of cooking for one..

Tonight's dinner:

ingredients: 

small piece of pumpkin (nearly past it's used by date... ) 

3-4 brussels spouts 

one rasher of bacon (i keep bacon in the freezer, wrapping each slice in glad wrap)

olive oil (good quality !) 

ground pepper

pre heat oven at 200 ℃

chop pumpkin, brussels sprouts and bacon

throw all into a cake tin with a drizzle of olive oil

pop in the oven for approximately 15 minute (check and toss around from time to time)

when they look cooked .. remove from oven and season with freshly ground pepper

serve and eat immediately - yum!