EGGING IT UP

Pasta-al-Egg
 

Time taken: 40 minutes

Ingredients: Half a cup of brown pasta, half a bag of spinach leaves, a couple of mushrooms, oil, maybe a third of a jar of green pesto, and an egg.

 

Hi readers,

‘Tis me! The one and only ChefBeHere, brimming with Friday cheer and offering you all a super new dinner/tea/whatever recipe to try out! It’s my very own invention, this one.

 

First, I want to say well done for making it through the week everyone. This is a terrific achievement, especially in January, and you should all be very proud of yourselves. You may not have climbed Everest (or maybe you did!) but making it through 5 working days is more than a lot of people manage. So feel good about yourself.

 

I myself am PHYSICALLY still not really well. I did a downward dog earlier and the pressure in my head was not funny. It was off the scale. I’m full of cold! However, MENTALLY I’m good. Today, I received a wonderful compliment about an essay from a lecturer. I’ve been productive with my work. And I got Starbucks.

 

Plus, my friend is here to visit from Birmingham! Hurray! This is one of my bestest gals, Miss Bitty, and we’re off to a swanky restaurant for wining and dining tonight, along with my flatmate Dr Davies. Newcastle, you have been warned.

 

So, there’s no ChefBeHere-ing going on tonight. I intend to take hold of a menu and order every veggie option they have going. Butttt I was cooking up a storm earlier this week and I haven’t told you yet… about my beautiful creation!

I was inspired by the Spanish Baked Eggs that Floss produced for me last weekend and, in the spirit of baking eggs on top of things, I decided to crack one on my pasta! Luckily, this worked like a charm.

 

 

Here is how you go about producing your Pasta-al-Egg, in just ten easy steps…

1.       Heat your oven to 200˚C.

2.       Boil the kettle and chuck your pasta into a small saucepan.

3.       Add hot water to cover the pasta, stick a lid on your pan and leave the pasta to boil for quarter of an hour. Take five minutes to yourself. Grab a cuppa, maybe?

4.       Then chop up your mushrooms into quarters.

ChefBeHere Top Tip: I was cooking with chestnut mushrooms rather than white ones. These taste reeeally flavoursome. More mushroomy than normal. If you haven’t tried them already then you definitely should do. You won’t go back.

5.       Heat your oil in a frying pan and chuck in your mushrooms.

6.       Let them brown for a few minutes, then add your spinach.

7.       While the spinach wilts, remove your pasta from the heat and drain into a colander.

8.       Add your pasta and pesto to the frying pan. Stir it all up!

9.       Then spoon everything into a small ovenproof dish and crack an egg right in the middle, in top of your pasta.

10.   Season with salt and pepper, then safely transport the dish into the oven to bake for about quarter of an hour, until the egg is firm. Then you can tuck in!

ChefBeHere Top Tip: As soon as your egg seems done you can take the dish out of the oven. You don’t want to leave it in their too long or the pasta might turn crunchy on top, I reckon.

And you just made… Pasta-al-Egg!

 

This really is a lovely, hearty and WARMING dishful of grub. The pasta itself is quite plain, as there aren’t any fancy vegetables involved, but then the egg jazzes it up and adds a really great extra flavour to the dish. This is a very good idea for people who normally grate cheese over pasta maybe (all raise your hands!) as a low- fat alternative topping for your pasta.

 

And, if you like eggs, then this tastes pretty decent I must say! The egg goes hard as if it’s been boiled, and I enjoyed it alongside flavours like pesto. This recipe sort of proves that as a student you can make something out of the ordinary for yourself with really simple and cheap ingredients, and without slaving in the kitchen or dedicating loads of time to it, if you just stop being ordinary.

 

You flatmates might be like WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! But then they’ll calm down. And you can have a jolly weekend together. I hope that you do!

Egg it up safely,

Hayley