Quick Linguine with Lobster

Lobster pasta has always been one of my favourite dishes to order in restaurants, but I've always been too nervous to make it myself.  I came across a recipe for lobster linguine by Antonio Carluccio in his cookbook and wanted to give it a try, but decided to adapt it to make a quicker and simpler version.  Here's my version:

Ingredients:

One large cooked lobster (approx 1.25kg)
700g tomatoes - skinned, de-seeded and chopped
100ml white wine
90ml olive oil
400g linguine
1 clove minced garlic (I used 1tsp of ready-minced garlic)
chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

Method:

1. Get the claw and tail meat out of the lobster and chop into chunks.  If you are unsure how to do this, you can look on youtube, ask your fishmonger to do it for you, or just hack away until you get it all out (this is the option i went for, but I wouldn't recommend it!)
2. heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.  Don't let it brown.   Add the wine and let it boil for a few minutes to allow the alcohol to evaporate.  Then stir in the tomatoes and let simmer for 10 minutes to reduce.  Add the lobster to the sauce mixture to heat through.


3. Meanwhile, boil the linguine according to instructions in a pot of salted water.
4. When the linguine is cooked, drain and then add to the sauce and mix together.  Sprinkle over the parsley and serve.

if you prefer creamier sauces, you can add a dash of cream at the end a couple of minutes before adding the linguine. 

Valentine's Day Brunch

This year, my husband and I decided not to do any gifts for Valentine's Day so instead I decided to make us a nice brunch family of pancakes, heart-shaped fried egg toasts, fresh berries, freshly brewed coffee and fruit infused water.  

It was my first time making pancakes from scratch and after a few questionable ones I think I managed to get the hang of it.  Next time I'm going to add some vanilla extract to the batter as I think it could have done with a little more sweetness.

Lemon and Blueberry Refrigerator Oats

I am always looking for healthy, quick breakfasts and came across the concept of refrigerator oats on Pinterest recently.  The premise is simple: mix some oats and chia seeds (ch-ch-ch-chia!!) in milk and yoghurt, let it soak overnight, and tah-dah you've got oatmeal in the morning.

I am not a morning person and never will be, so the way I look at it, the additional time saved by NOT having to prepare breakfast in the morning = extra time in bed. And that makes me happy.

Here's my recipe, although you can mix it up with whatever fruits and flavours float your boat:

1/2 cup steel cut oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup yoghurt (I use Rachel's organic lemon yoghurt)
3 teaspoons chia seeds
1 tsp maple syrup (optional, you could also use sweetener or honey)
Handful of fruit of your choice (I use blueberries)

Mix everything together in a bowl, stick it in the fridge overnight, chuck the fruit on in the morning and that's it! You may also want to add a little additional milk in the morning if it is too thick for your taste.