I am ashamed to say that I only found out it was British Cheese Week yesterday *hangs head in cheesy shame* I feel like a cheese failure. To compensate for my lack of cheese week knowledge I decided to make one of my favourite dishes last night – which I thought I would share with you. It’s great for the third trimester of pregnancy as it’s packed full of calcium (cheese), which is desperately required for your growing baby in these last few weeks (they need 200-250mg of calcium a day). It also has lots of vegetables in it, which are a fantastic source of so many different vitamins.
Pasta a la Fromage and Pig (Serves 2 happily)
Ingredients:
– 1/2 500g pack of fresh penne pasta
– 1 pack of Asparagus
– 4-6 rashers of Bacon
– 150g Yorkshire fettle cheese (or if it’s not British Cheese Week – feta is fabulous)
– 1 Courgette (or 2 baby courgettes)
– 3 cloves of garlic
– 1/2 a pack of mushrooms
– One pepper – any colour
– Dried oregano
– Fresh basil
– Spray oil
– Chilli oil
– Chilli flakes
– Pinch of salt
– A little hard italian cheese to grate on top (if it’s not British Cheese Week)
– Black pepper to season
Equipment:
– Frying Pan
– Large saucepan
– Garlic crusher (if you have one)
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Total cooking time: 15-20 minutes
Instructions:
1. Wash and chop all the vegetables. Cut up the bacon into small pieces. Chop the Yorkshire fettle into small chunks.
2. Spray the frying pan with some oil and place on full heat. Add the crushed garlic and bacon to the pan, and fry until cooked through.
3. Add a tablespoon of dried oregano to the frying pan and stir through.
4. Add the mushrooms to the pan with a dash of chilli oil, and fry until they have shrunk noticeably.
5. In the meantime start boiling your water for the pasta in the saucepan. Add a splash of chilli oil to the water and a pinch of salt.
6. Add the courgettes and pepper to the frying pan. Keep stirring and mixing the ingredients.
7. Put the pasta in the boiling water and set the timer for 6 minutes (or follow instructions on packet if different).
8. At the same time add cheese to the frying pan, and 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes. Turn down the heat on the frying pan as the cheese will melt quickly.
9. Test the pasta. Drain and serve.
10. Add ingredients from frying pan on top of the pasta.
Season with fresh basil, black pepper and a little grated cheese. This tasty, cheesy meal is ready to eat!
I hope you all enjoy this recipe – let me know how you get on!
Have a lovely weekend
Hannah
