Pan Fried Skatewing With Red Peppers Tomatoes and Capers

Tomato, Red Pepper & Olive Pasta Sauce - How To Make

How to make a tasty tomato, red pepper & olive pasta sauce.

Ingredients:-
400gm Tin of Italian Tomatoes - break up tomatoes and use the juice only.
2 cloves Garlic peeled and crushed
1/2 Red Onion diced
1 Red Pepper finely diced
1/2 teaspoon of dried Oregano if you cant get fresh
       Substitute with Fresh Basil leaves as an alternative.
Salt & Pepper to taste
8-10 Olives de-stoned and halved

Serve with :-
Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil
Pasta of your choice



Method:-
Drain the tomatoes using a sieve and bowl and break up to release the juice.
In a large heavy based frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Fry the diced onions and pepper. Add 2 crushed cloves of Garlic. Add the Oregano and the juice of the tomatoes and simmer until the sauce reduces.
Season with black Pepper and salt, but remember olives will be a little salty too. Use the back of a knife and squash the Olives to remove the stone and half the Olives and add to the sauce.

In a large saucepan, boil water and season with Salt. Add 250gms Spaghetti or Linguine Pasta and cook for 8 minutes until soft but has a bite. This is Al dente. Take pasta and drain but leave a small teacup of the pasta water and add this and the pasta to the sauce and toss in the pan to mix. Add a handful of Parmesan Cheese. Add fresh ground black pepper and serve.

This is a simple and easy dish. Give it a try with different herbs such as Basil or Thyme should you wish to add them to the sauce.
I had the tomato juice left over from the Arrabiata recipe and didn't want to waste it. As a result I concocted this recipe.

Tasty Chicken Stew

Here is a nice recipe to make a tasty chicken stew.

Tasty Chicken Stew Ingredients:-
2 Leeks halved and chopped into chunks (1 lb)
2 Carrots cut into chunks (200grams)
2 Parsnips halved and cut into chunks (300grams)
2 Celery stalks finely chopped
Mushrooms sliced (200grams)
Potato’s - leave the skins on any small potatoes or if using bigger, peel and quarter (300grams)
2 Bay Leaves
6 leaves of Sage chopped
2 sprigs of Rosemary stalks removed and chopped
1 Red Pepper cut into big chunks
1 large Clove of Garlic peeled and finely chopped
4 Chicken Thighs with skin removed 
Flour seasoned with salt and pepper to dust the chicken thighs
Olive Oil
2/3 table spoons of Cornflower or some instant potato mix
1 to 1.5 litres of water
Chicken stock cube

Method:-
Sprinkle Flour onto a plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll the four Chicken Thighs into the Flour and pat off excess flour.
Gently fry the four Chicken Thighs until golden in colour.
Set the four Chicken Thighs aside to make the vegetable stock.
Cut two Leeks in half and wash to remove any dirt. Then chop into chunks.
Dice the two Celery sticks.
Peel and chop two Carrots. Peel and half two Parsnips then cut into chunks.
Deseed the red pepper and cut into chunks.
Peel and finely chop the Garlic.
Sautee the Leeks, Carrots, Parsnips, Garlic and the Red Pepper in a couple of tablespoons of Olive Oil.
Add in the Bay Leaves, the chopped Sage and Rosemary. Then add about a litre to a litre and a half of water.
Add the stock cube and stir until dissolved, then add salt and pepper to taste.
Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer.
Add the Chicken Thighs and any juices, and cook for thirty minutes (30 mins).
Add in the potatoes and the mushrooms and cook for another fifteen minutes (15 mins) or until cooked.
If you want the stock to be thicker, then mix two or three tablespoons of Cornflower with a little water and make a paste. Then add this to the stock and this will thicken the stock when the cornflower is cooked out. Another method is to add a couple of large spoonful of instant potato directly into the stew and this will have the same effect.
Remove Bay Leaves and divide into four portions and serve with crusty bread.