I don't write this blog very often any more. In fact, it's reducing to almost once a month. This doesn't mean at all that my interest (I wouldn't call it a 'passion') in cooking has waned. Not at all. It's just that I've been quite busy and also my food habit has taken a different turn since my son left the house. I'm not so sure if this 'different turn' is interesting for other people who read this blog to try. I still cook for my son a few times a week, but most of the time I can now afford to eat what I like instead of being dictated by my thoughts on what a teenager boy might need.
Of course I still care a lot what I eat, but it can be a lot simpler now. Simple but balanced and healthy. Then I have wondered, "What food do I like best?" As you can see from the variety of recipes in this blog, I eat more or less anything, bar offals which I just don't like and can't eat and perhaps seafood which I don't buy for no particular reason. I find them a bit scary. I don't do lentils, either.
So..my favourite foods. I must say they are noodles, eggs, and cakes, in that order. Noodles include pasta, udon, ramen, and soba. Eggs, I find, are the most versatile material you can ever think. You can use them in so many different ways. But..my favourite way to eat eggs are boiled, poached, or fried. I add them to a lot of the things I eat. They add softness, gentleness, and comfort to dishes, I think. And cakes.. What can you say? I'm a cake fiend. They don't sound healthy at all, but I include a lot of healthy things like fruit and veg and nuts.
The recipe today is pasta..again. Do try to go to an Italian deli and find some unusual pasta like this one. This one happens to be a souvenir from a friend who's been to Italy recently. It's a mixed dried pasta of squid ink ones and normal ones. Pasta with different shapes and sizes taste very different to me. They even have different texture.
Ingredients (for 1 person):
Half a fennel, very finely sliced
10 cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
100g (or however much you feel you want) pasta
While pasta is cooking, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic, chilli flakes, and fennel slices. Stir around until the fennels softens a bit. Add chopped tomato, a bit of salt and black pepper. Stop the heat when tomatoes melt into a sauce. Add the pasta and parsley. That's it. Enjoy!