Simple ‘if its’ Pasta

Hi Everyone,

Whenever I’m feeling tired, or stuck in a rut with my cooking, I grab my ‘if it’s’ meal. This changes every single time as the recipe is ‘if it’s there it’s going in’. I learned this from my Mum, as she used to make gorgeous ‘if it’s’ stuffed mushrooms. Just. Yum. Unfortunately I didn’t have any Portobello mushrooms, but I did have wholemeal pasta!
So tonight I was feeling like I needed to use up a lot of what was in the fridge, so I came up with this recipe. My tomatoes were just about to turn, and my parmesan had been open a while so I knew it was going to go mouldy soon, and my crème fraiche only had a day left in date. I was looking to add peas and spinach in this recipe, but found that I didn’t have any!

For my little man, I blended the pasta slightly, as I don’t like to give him penne because of their tube shape. I also put in grated cheddar instead of parmesan as I find it a bit too salty for him. I served this pasta with a side salad and a fishcake.

I hope you enjoy. What ‘if it’s’ meals do you make?

Love,

Natalie x

Ingredients:

140g Wholewheat Penne Pasta
20g Unsalted Butter
2 Large Cloves of Garlic, minced
100g Half Fat Crème Fraiche
50g Mixed Tomatoes
20g Parmesan
10g Chopped Parsley
Squeeze of Lemon, to serve

Method

1. Add the pasta to a pan of boiling water and cook as per the instructions.
2. Heat the butter in a large frying pan, and add in the garlic. Next, add the tomatoes, and cook through for a few minutes until they begin to soften.
3. Drain the pasta and add into the frying pan. Stir through the crème fraiche and parmesan.
4. Top with parsley and squeeze over half a lemon.