Bring out the kitchen goddess in you while self-quarantining with these easy-to-prepare dishes
Since we will all be hunkering down at home until June 1, we might as well pick up a few more life skills, and eat well at the same time. Of course, you can have food from your favourite restaurants delivered to your home, but if you feel like stepping up your cooking game, here are a few celebrity chefs' go-to recipes that were also shared on Instagram. They are meant to be simple, giving you the opportunity to master some basic skills and gain more confidence in your cooking.
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1. Nigella Lawson's Spaghetti With Lemon And Garlic Breadcrumbs
This recipe is perfect for home cooks loooking to put bread that's about to expire to good use.
INGREDIENTS
200 grams spaghetti or spaghettini
Salt for pasta water plus 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes
15ml tablespoon regular olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
Approx. 50 grams (½ cup) breadcrumbs
2 x 15ml tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1 small clove garlic (peeled)
Black pepper (to taste)
1 small bunch fresh flatleaf parsley (chopped)
METHOD
1. Bring water to the boil for your pasta, salting generously when it starts bubbling. Add the pasta, stir with a pasta fork or your equivalent and let the pasta cook according to packet instructions, tasting a couple of minutes before it's meant to be ready.
2. Warm one tablespoon of regular olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the lemon zest; it will sizzle fragrantly. Now add the breadcrumbs and toast by stirring them in the warm pan until they turn a deep gold colour. Remove immediately to a cold dish.
3. Important step: before draining the pasta, remove a cupful of the starchy water. It is a crucial step.
4. Tip the drained pasta back into its own cooking pan, then add the extra-virgin olive oil and half the lemon juice, and toss to combine in the hot pan until a lot of the liquid is absorbed. Add the dried chilli flakes and salt (to taste) and grate in (or mince and add) the garlic, and toss again, adding some pasta-cooking liquid to help it amalgamate into a sparse but gleaming sauce. Season to taste and to check whether you want to add the remaining lemon juice.
5. Mix the chopped parsley into the toasted breadcrumbs and add most of the breadcrumb-parsley mix to the pasta, tossing well.
6. Divide between two warmed bowls and sprinkle the remaining lemony, parsley-flecked breadcrumbs over each.
This recipe originally appeared on nigellissima.