The Lull...and a Lobster, Crab, Chilli and Courgette Linguini.

Hello again folks, the bedroom has been virtually finished, only the illusive vintage dressing table remains to be sourced, purchased and re-vamped. So....what to do in the meantime!
Well I'm going to grab the bull by the horns and start on the lounge/sitting room/ living room, call it what you will its next on the To Do!
Obviously this will take a bit of planning and some purchasing of paint, the dirty jobs need done and I'll be sure to keep you updated on all of that,but I'm starting to think that some of my 'updating' can actually sound a bit like 'whining' so apologies for my awfulness in advance. I'm planning new shelving, a closet office, dining area and a sofa re-cover! Ambitious or what! I've never actually installed shelving before so that should be fun ;).
So a little lull at present until I resolve my scheme and get some funds together (small funds, really small funds, like can you get free paint on 'Freecycle', yeah ok, but paint that I actually like and enough for two coats please?) and so I thought in the meantime I'd post one of my favourite pasta recipes, so please see all that stuff below here. 'LIKE' on facebook and do your internet thing all over it! It tasted totally lush although it's fairly labour intensive. So take a peek :)
love
Samantha x

Tesco did a stamp thing.......I collected loads and LOOK! Saved massive
£76 for a spend of around £27ish. Huge improvement Thank you Tesco!

Ok, make your own fresh egg pasta....this is a recipe of my own, I was inspired by that M&S food advert with the guy and the eggs and the flour on a wooden table and I still haven't tried a recipe book version, I will no doubt be embarrassed enough by this post to make it properly henceforth...BUT this works a treat for me, serves 4 portions.
You need  75g fine semolina, 75g plain flour (told you not even 00 tilled pasta flour - its too pricey!) a pinch of salt, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 2 eggs.

If the mix is dry add a little water, then knead until a smooth dough forms. Cover in cling film and bung it in
the fridge until required.

My pasta machine, under a tenner from Argos :)
I'm keeping the pasta pictures together for continuities sake but in reality while the dough is in the fridge get prepping your veg etc. But anyways..........lol

Roll out the pasta dough into a sausage then cut into even portions. Flatten out a portion with your fingers on a floured surface. FLOUR EVERYTHING!!!! NO really, this stuff will stick make sure both sides are well covered then run through your machine. Flour again, then run through again...I generally find 3 passes through the rollers is enough. This is brilliant messy fun folks!

You should end up with something like this.....now I've seen the chefs on TV that have massive meter long
 strips of the stuff stretched out over miles of work surface....well my kitchen is tiny
so I work in portion to the space I've got. It also makes it easier to handle. 

Now run your pasta strips through the linguini cutter attachment, feeding through gently and gathering in your hand as you go. Then hang. You can see my improvised pasta rack, I'm still trying to source one at a good price but they can be very expensive and I think I want one that extends because in this picture where the pasta sits pooled on the work surface is where it stuck in a clump that I couldn't use, its ok though I just snipped it and it was plenty enough. This stuff is soft and very sticky :) Now you can leave it to hang/dry and start the sauce.

One medium courgette, cubed.

4 small shallots, diced.

6 large cherry vine tomatoes quartered

A small handful of parsley, finely chopped.

One small red chilli de-seeded and finely chopped. 3 finely chopped garlic cloves.

My most favourite ingredient! This lobster was bought cooked and frozen. I don't think I have the nerve or the cash for live lobster but I'm quite happy with this boyo! So shell it! Easy enough really. Break off the tail pull out the meat and clean. The same goes for the large claws. And set aside ALL of the shell to make stock.

Now I couldn't get crabs but this was the next best thing and I would even use canned if I really got stuck. Its from Lidl Deluxe. Great price and taste :)

Of the lobster this is what you should be left with, more or less.

You can skip this part if you feel that its too time consuming but its a handy thing to know how to do and its great to use ALL of the lobster. Add a half a small onion, one small carrot and the shell from the lobster in a medium pot with a generous pinch of salt and about  one and half pints of water, bring to the boil then allow to
 simmer for around an hour until the stock has reduced.

After an hour sieve into a jug. Now you can discard the shells and unwanted vegetables .

You can freeze the remaining stock for other uses as my recipe only takes about 3 or 4 tablepsoons of  stock

Roughly chop the lobster pieces and leave to one side with the other ingredients ready to add to your sauce.

You will need 3 to 4 tablespoons of white wine.

and  lastly 150 mls of double cream.

So now we cook. It all happens quite quickly at this stage as the total cooking time is around 5 minutes for the sauce and fresh pasta cooks in around 3 minutes so have a pan of boiling water ready for your egg pasta. Now add the chilli and garlic to a pan and allow to cook gently for 2 minutes.

Turn the pan up to a higher heat. Now add the courgette, shallot, 3 tablespoons of white wine and cherry tomatoes
and cook  for a further  two minutes

Once the courgettes and shallots have begun to soften add the lobster and crab pieces. Now add the cream and mix together. The cream may make your sauce too thick which is why I now add the stock from the lobster shell. If that's the part you didn't want to do then don't worry just add a little more of the white wine or vegetable stock until the sauce loosens. At this stage it would be best to have boiled and drained your pasta and have it on standby ready to add!

Stir the fresh egg linguini through the sauce and most of the fresh chopped parsley. Hold a little parsley back for  garnish :)

And here it is, a delicious light summer pasta dish! All home made by yours truly. I'm hoping you'll love it too :)