60 Things To Do In 2015: Cook a meal for friends

I love cooking. So when The opportunity arose to cook for Chloe and Rosie, I jumped at the chance.

I decided to cook pasta in a tomato sauce with a bit of spice and bacon to give it that added taste. As Chloe and I had spent the afternoon together, she helped me with the preparation of the ingredients - I didn't want my guest just sat around with nothing to do so I thought getting her involved would be the better option.

Ingredients

1 large pot of Tomato sauce (I used Dolimo)

A couple squirts of Tomato ketchup (optional)

Pasta (I tend to use fusli pasta for this particular dish)

1 red pepper

1 garlic glove

1 packet of bacon rashers or lardons (I personally prefer to use lardons as it involves less hassle during preparation)

A sprinkle of Mixed herbs

Half a teaspoon of Piri Piri sauce (optional)

Method

To begin with, I pre heated the hob to about mid way on the dial with the kettle boiling in the background before adding the hot water to the pan full of pasta.

We left the pasta to cook over the hob in the hot water for five minutes. This give us just enough time to prepare the rest of the food. 

I had Chloe start by chopping up the garlic glove. Yes, I chop my garlic. I find it much easier than using a garlic crusher - I feel like I'm using more of the clove as you don't get little bits of garlic stuck in the crusher. While she was chopping the garlic, I began on the pepper.

Next up: bacon. They didn't have any bacon lardons in the shop when we went in so we compromised with rashers. Chloe cut up the bacon into little squares because by this time the five minutes were up on the pasta. I drained the water from the pan and added the whole jar of tomato sauce to the pan still full of semi cooked pasta before adding some ketchup, some Piri Piri sauce and some mixed herbs. 

Once I had the basic sauce mixed in with the pasta, we added the bacon, followed by the pepper and the garlic. I know what you're think - I should have fried the bacon separately before adding it to the rest but that part completely slipped my mind. But you know what, it turned out fine. 

With all ingredients cooking in the same pan, you can keep it on mid heat for another five to six minutes, stirring every now and then but ensuring the bacon is at the bottom of the pan to ensure it cooks thoroughly. I find that by cooking this way with all of the ingredients in the same pan, you save a lot of time and create less washing up and get the same outcome.

Either when the timer goes off or by judging the readiness of the dish on your own instincts, it'll be ready to serve up straight from the pan within 15 minutes. 

It was a lovely meal, even if I do say so myself and they both seemed to enjoy it. I tend to cook more than what is needed as I like to freeze the leftovers and have it another day. Chloe and I were both starving by the time Rosie turned up. This meal is so easy and convenient to make and takes no time at all to conjure up.

Charlotte.