Pancetta and Mushroom Orzo Pasta

My housemate Sarah came back to uni with a lovely new cookbook, River Cottage: Veg Everyday, which has hundreds of gorgeous recipes for side dishes, soups and vegetable dishes in their own right. I would definitely recommend it if you're in a bit of a food rut and if you're trying to be more healthy for January  as the majority of recipes are really healthy. Of course, if like me you love your meat you can always incorporate meat into a dish somehow! Sarah and I loved the look of the Mushroom Orzo pasta so we decided to try it, but add some diced pancetta which just gives it a really gorgeous depth of flavour.

Ingredients to serve 2

150g orzo pasta (This pasta is almost like risotto rice in texture and to look at.)

1 tablespoons of olive oil 

knob of butter 

250g mushrooms (Hugh used 500g but we thought this was kind of crazy as that's a whole punnet each...)

2 garlic cloves finely chopped 

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar 

about 75ml dry white wine (we used Chat-En-Oeuf which is nice and not too expensive) 

about 50ml creme fraiche 

salt and pepper to season 

a few sprigs of thyme, leaves only 

good handful of chopped parsley 

200g pancetta diced (your butcher/delicatessen will slice you a piece to the thickness you wish (approx 2cm) for you to chop up at home as you wish. You could also use smoked streaky bacon as a cheaper alternative.) 

Start by bringing a pan of salted-water to the boil ready to cook your pasta later. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pan, and cook your mushrooms on a high heat, turning often so they don't burn. In another pan fry your pancetta pieces. 

When the mushrooms are nearly cooked add the pasta to the pan for approximately 7 minutes or until it tastes al dente.When the pancetta is cooked and crispy drain into a bowl lined with kitchen roll to soak up any access fat. 

Back to the mushrooms... Add the garlic, thyme and balsamic vinegar, stirring for a minute or two. Add the wine and cook until there is hardly any liquid left. 

Add the crême fraiche, reduce the heat slightly and stir until it is just about simmering. Season with salt and pepper. If it isn't cooked already, wait to drain your pasta, then add to the mushroom mix with the pancetta. 

Stir and serve with lots of chopped parsley on top with some crusty bread and oils. 

Deli Favourites- Fun Tips and Ideas

From talking to customers in the shop over the last few weeks, it seems that everyone's appetite is disappearing with the hot weather, and I couldn't agree more. I myself have been snacking and lunching on different cheeses, olives and cold meats from our lovely delicatessen, so I thought this week I would show you how I've been putting them to use to eat more lightly in the hotter weather.

1. Parma Ham and Melon has long been a favourite on Spanish tapas menus and is deliciously refreshing in the hot weather. My mum made these gorgeous little bundles as nibbles for a BBQ we had the other weekend. Simply cut melon into small sections, and add a folded piece of Andrew's Parma Ham, sliced thinly on request, attaching to the melon with a cocktail stick.

2. As well as our excellent Italian Buffalo Di Mozzarella that we sell as a whole ball in a pot, we also sell the same cheese in little individual balls in a pot. This makes it really easy to tear into salads for lunches. Serve here as I did with a plate of tomato spaghetti for a quick yummy lunch on a hot day.

3. I absolutely adore this Finnochiona salami which has to be my favourite of all the salamis that we sell in the shop. Finnochio translates as fennel in Italian, and the small pieces of fennel running through the salami give it a delicate but very unique taste. What I love about the salamis we serve in the shop, apart from their taste, is that we slice on request so customers can have as much or as little as they like and as thick or thin as they like it. A friend made me a lunch of a couple of slices of the Finnochiona salami with a light salad the other day and it was simply delicious!

4. We have now started selling small pitted black olives, thankfully, as it means I no longer have to fiddle about taking the stone out each time I want to cook with them. For easy potatoes with a summer feel, I slice roasting potatoes and add them to a roasting dish with thyme, olive oil and sliced black olives. Roast for 45 mins in a hot oven until golden, stirring occasionally. The olives give the potatoes a delightful flavour even if you want to discard them afterwards. This potato dish is also lovely if you add our Bridge Farm lamb cutlets 10 mins before the end of cooking, as the meat juices enrich the flavour of the potatoes even more. 

Chorizo Tortilla, Serrano Ham and Melon, Manchego Cheese

With this horrible weather I wanted to create some sunshine in the kitchen and make an inexpensive lunch that reminded me of Spanish holidays. I used three basic ingredients from Andrew's: 100g each of chorizo, Serrano ham, and Manchego cheese, all sourced from Spain. As the ingredients are quite rich, a small amount goes a long way; I was able to make a wholesome lunch for the four of us for around £10-£15 (salad and potatoes included).

The only cooking is in the Spanish tortilla: a thick omelette made with eggs, sliced new potatoes, and onions. The recipe I used is Delia's which can be found by clicking here. The only adaptation I made was to add the chorizo, which I diced and added to the pan with the potatoes and onion, and some fresh herbs added with the egg. I used a much bigger frying pan which meant the omelette was a lot thinner and took less time to cook, so think about that when considering your timings.

 I then just added the slices of Serrano ham to a board with sliced melon and the Manchego, and served alongside a salad; I really love these sorts of meals where everyone can dig in and help themselves.