Saturdays Dinner

On Saturday we set ourselves off nice and early to buy all our ingredients for dinner, we shopped at a local Greek Butcher, the Greek delicatessen, Fishmonger and Italian delicatessen. We find that shopping in these little shops not only helps support them against the likes of big named supermarkets but you also receive great service with a smile, even young men that will help carry your shopping to your car.

The menu:

Appetiser - Stuffed Lemons, with buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, anchovies and basil 

Starter - Homemade spaghetti with tiger prawns, white wine and black garlic

Main - Home made sausages and ribs in a tomato sauce, homemade bread with skinny fries on the side

Dessert - Tartufo

So the black garlic was something different for the both of us, neither one of us had tried it before and when we saw it and we both thought 'why not' - black garlic starts off as white garlic but after gentle heating and a little time, the cloves become sweet, dark and jellied. It's achieved through the fermentation process only; there are no additives, but Black Garlic has twice the antioxidants of normal garlic, is low in fat, rich in natural sugars and leaves no smell or bad breath. It has a sweet taste and instantly brings a new depth of flavour to any dish.

Home made spaghetti with tiger prawns, white wine and black garlic recipe:

Serves 2

1 red chili (deseed if you don't want to much heat) finely chopped

2 cloves black garlic

1/2 shallot, finely chopped

Handful of parsley

1 cup white wine

2 Handfuls fresh pasta (can use dried)

6 King prawns

Juice of half a lemon

Zest of half a lemon

Salt & Pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation

Boil a pan of water until bubbling and when ready drop your pasta in - fresh pasta will sink to the bottom when you first place it into the water and when ready will rise to the surface - when they rise quickly drain and cool down with cold water then set aside

Heat the oil in a big pan and fry the chili and shallot over a medium heat to soften but not brown, break the black garlic into the pan and fry for a few minutes constantly stirring

Add in the king prawns and cook until they turn pink, then add the wine, lemon juice and grated lemon zest

Now add in the pasta and mix well, cook until the spaghetti has heated through

 Using your hands rip the parsley straight into the pan, season to taste and stir well

Take off the heat and serve