Hello again
Will it ever warm up? Or am I getting ahead of myself with spring’s false start; the daffodils are out, and there are even buds and blossom on the boughs, but the northeasterly has been keeping it real.
Right about now, late morning, we start thinking about lunch. Keep going, we’ve nearly made it through the busy Monday morning. It’s nearly time to take a well-deserved break. Notifications go on mute. Get yourself away from the desk, even if it’s just for 20 minutes.
How are you spending your lunch break? Let me know in the comments what you’re up to and what you’re having.
Make ahead…
Sun-dried tomato pasta salad
In praise of the pre-prepped pasta pots
I know it’s still a bit chilly for salad, but there’s a little story that goes with this one… Every time we go by train to London, if we pass an M&S at St Pancras or Charing Cross, my daughter always gets a pot of Feta Cheese & Slow-Roasted Tomato Pasta Salad. 11:30 at night after concerts. Mid-afternoon after an exhibition. Catching the Eurostar. Every time. She loves it. So when she was tucking into it again on the train home in half-term, I thought, why don’t I recreate this at home for us? She said it’s Spot on! (high praise from a 15-year-old, indeed).
Here’s my little take on an M&S fave. It makes a great make-ahead lunch that can be dished up whenever you’re ready, or boxed up to pack off to work or school.
Ingredients:
(makes 3-4 portions)
300g Casarecce pasta
Salt & pepper
1/4 jar of sun-dried tomatoes, reserve 1tbsp of the oil
1/4 jar of chargrilled peppers
10-12 leaves of fresh basil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
200g Greek-style salad cheese, cubed
For the base sauce:
(you’ll need about a quarter of the finished sauce for this recipe)
1 x 400g tin tomatoes
Few sprigs of fresh oregano, leaves picked
Pinch of sugar
Salt
To make:
First make the base sauce by cooking down a tin of tomatoes with fresh oregano, salt and a pinch of sugar. Then blitz with an immersion blender until smooth. This was first prepared as a pizza sauce, as we were having pizza, but thought it would make a good sauce for the base of the pasta.
Allow the sauce to cool.
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
While that’s cooking, prepare the rest of the salad by chopping the sun-dried tomatoes, peppers and basil.
Add these to the sauce base, along with the red wine vinegar and a tablespoon of the oil from the tomatoes.
Once the pasta is cooked, cool it quickly in cold water and drain again.
Add the cold pasta to the sauce, along with the cheese and basil.
Give it all a good stir and season to taste.
Cover and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.
Simple swaps:
Passata in place of tinned tomatoes would work fine for the sauce base. If you’re short on time, then you might even be able to replace that step with a pre-made stir-in sauce.
With the fragrant herbs and meaty sun-dried tomatoes, this would still be satisfying without the cheese.
If you can’t face cold salad for lunch just yet, I see no reason why it wouldn’t be fine heated through or made fresh as a hot pasta dish.
Extra helping
Rustle up….
Courgette, chilli & halloumi bowl
Go with the grain
An extra bite from me this week. I wanted to share this as it absolutely hit the spot for lunch on a cold day, and I ate it in front of the fire while watching another episode of Trying (we’ve binge-watched the whole thing now; it’s just adorable).
This warming bowl is quick and used up a few odds and ends from the fridge. If you’ve been reading TWL a little while, you’ll know I’m a superfan of the pre-cooked grains in pouches - because they are so easy and so much flavour is already packed in there. This uses Herby Italian-Style Grains, some pan-fried courgettes and halloumi, a handful of sautéed spinach, and the dregs of a jar of jalapeno chilli jam which I made into a simple dressing by mixing with hot water and some oil from the sun-dried tomatoes.
Not feeling the love with this week’s lunch ideas?
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Great lunch idea. One I’ve created myself on many occasion, with a bit of rocket/bistro salad for extra Brownie points.