Project B

Weekdays are always horrific, so it helps to have a really easy but delicious supper with some nice wine.

Last week I served this pasta with a side salad of roasted sweet potato and baby English spinach; dessert was strawberry tartlets from the patisserie.

Smoked salmon linguini

Dried thin linguini or thin spaghetti, enough for two exceedingly greedy or three regularly hungry people.

1 red onion
extra virgin olive oil
heaped tablespoon of capers (brined, not salted)
heaped tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
juice of one lemon
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 -1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup dry white wine if you’re drinking it, else omit
bunch of fresh dill
large handful of fresh rocket/arugula
100g smoked salmon slices
1/4 cup cream

Finely dice the onion, and gently fry in olive oil (do not let it burn/brown). Roughly chop capers and add to pan. Add mustard, not quite all the lemon juice, wine, sugar, pepper. Let it bubble briefly and taste for seasoning — add more sugar/salt/lemon juice if needed. Turn off the heat and throw in lots of roughly chopped dill (I used a big handful) and the roughly chopped rocket.

Tear the smoked salmon into largish pieces. Set aside.

All the work bar boiling the pasta is now done. When ready to serve, cook the pasta, drain well. Stir the cream into the sauce then stir the pasta into the sauce, making sure it is all coated. Let the pasta suck up the sauce. Then gently distribute the salmon through the pasta.

Serve!

Roasted sweet potato salad — line a baking tray with baking paper, peel and slice sweet potatoes into chunks the size of two fingers, toss sweet potato in olive oil, salt, pepper, mixed herbs. Roast in a hot oven for 18-22 minutes. Rinse a bag of baby spinach and line a salad plate with it. Drizzle over a dressing made from lemon juice, wholegrain mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. Strew the sweet potatoes over the spinach.