Greek pasta salad

Ingredients

• 300g fusilli pasta spirals - or you can use farfalle (butterflies) or penne (quill tubes)
• 225g bag prepared fresh baby spinach
• 250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
• 100g black olives (we bought kalamata from the deli counter)
• 200g feta cheese, broken into rough chunks
• 3 tbsp olive oil

 Method

1. Tip the fusilli into a large pan of boiling salted water and boil for 10 minutes. Throw in the spinach, stir well and boil for another 2 minutes. Drain into a colander or sieve and leave to drip-dry.
2. Tip the tomatoes, olives and feta into a big bowl, grind lots of black pepper over and then drizzle with the olive oil.
3. Toss in the drained pasta and spinach, and let everyone help themselves.

Lemony prawn and pea pasta

Ingredients

• 350g linguine or other long pasta
• 140g large frozen prawns
• 100g frozen peas
• 1 egg yolk
• zest and juice 1lemon
• handful grated parmesan
• soured cream (optional) 

 Method

1. Boil the linguine for 8 mins. Three minutes before the time is up, tip in the prawns and peas. Reserve a cup of cooking water, then drain the pasta and return to the pan.
2. Add the egg yolk, lemon zest and juice, most of the Parmesan and some soured cream, if you like. Stir everything together, adding a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen the mixture.
3. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 400g can plum tomatoes
• ½ bunch basil, plus extra leaves, to serve
• ½ recipe Multi mince (see link below)
• 400g spaghetti or other long pasta
• 25g toasted breadcrumbs 

 Method

1. Heat the oil in non-stick frying pan. Tip in the carrot and cook for 5 mins to soften. Scoop out the tomatoes from the can and add to the pan, and cook for 5 mins more. Pour over the tomato juice and basil, then simmer for 15 mins. Whizz together in a blender until smooth. This sauce can be frozen for up to 3 months.
2. Heat through with the Multi mince. Cook spaghetti according to pack instructions. Reserve some of the cooking water, drain and tip the pasta into the pan along with the sauce. Toss together, thinning with pasta water, if needed, and serve with the extra basil leaves on top and the breadcrumbs.

Pasta and Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, broken into small florets
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound spaghetti

Directions

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, steam frozen cauliflower until tender. Alternatively, break cauliflower into flowerets, and steam until tender.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and saute until golden. Add garlic, and saute until golden brown. Stir in cauliflower and seasonings.
4. Drain pasta, and transfer to a large serving bowl. Toss with onion and cauliflower mixture, and top with cheese.