Caitríona Redmond: Joyful pasta and biscotti for the whole family - plus Valentine's meal-deals

Rotolo and tea biscotti - family-friendly Italian fare!

On a tighter budget than most, I am faced with a smaller menu of ingredients to choose from for meal planning. That shorter list could make cooking more humdrum if I let it. Preparing food and dining together is all about the experience and I lean into particular tricks to make a meal memorable.

What we eat starts with the basic ingredients and I choose the best quality for my price. If the quality isn’t great then I plan a dish that accommodates vegetables that are past their best but is visually appealing, for example my recipe for a rotolo this week. If, like me, you’ve a picky eater in your family you will know that appearances are just as important as taste. The spirals of rotolo, which is a rolled-up pasta dish, contained within a square or rectangular shape are very pleasing.

When I’m preparing a meal I’m mindful of the kitchen environment. Of course, I could listen to audiobooks, podcasts, or have the latest news playing on the radio in the background but it’s not that enticing for everybody else in the house. For me it’s cheesy pop and rock that I can belt the lyrics to at the top of my lungs. I know for a fact it makes everybody smile no matter what room they’re in, and they can hear their meals being prepared happily.

Anybody dropping by the door or nipping in to get something will get drawn into a kitchen singalong and dance party. If you’ve never danced with abandon in the kitchen while preparing your dinner, or roared Queen lyrics while cleaning up, this is something for trying even once. “I want to break free” is perfect while scrubbing the sink if you’re wondering.

If you want to get your family more involved in the kitchen, make it entertaining. If you suggest that making a meal is a slog and a drudge then it is far more difficult to encourage them to help. Those who either see or are involved in the culinary antics will know that their meals are filled with fun.

A meal that’s joyfully made tastes all the better.

Amidst the doom and gloom of news like mortgage interest rate rises and how much inflation we can expect I am reaching for every single bit of joy and happiness I can find or generate. Yes I worry, the same as everybody else. Yes, thinking about the future keeps me awake at night.

In the moments of sheer gliondar croí (gleeful joy) I can slough off my worries and be present, cooking for my family and being present.

Stressful thoughts can take a hike out of my kitchen; my family haven. I’m determined not to let them influence what I serve.

Celebrate Valentines' Day with some of the delicious meal deals on offer.

Special Offers

Valentine’s Day is just over a week away and a number of supermarkets have meal deal offers worth checking out. I prefer to cook from scratch but a meal deal is cheaper than a takeaway for the nights that I fancy a break from the kitchen. My top picks at the moment are:

Tesco’s ‘pizza night in’ offers two of their finest wood-fired pizzas, two sides (including garlic bread, coleslaw or wedges), plus a 1-litre bottle of Coca-Cola. Bought with a Clubcard this will cost €12.50, without one, it would cost around €17.75, so this is a considerable saving. Bear in mind this amount of food should feed a family of four.

One of the original meal deals is from Marks & Spencer, and while I don’t include this supermarket in my weekly shopping basket review, it’s very popular at this time of the year. The Gastropub Meal Deal for two includes a main, a side, and a starter or dessert for €15. They have a number of other meal deals on offer actually, and some for as low as €8.50 for two people.

Dunnes Stores ‘Share The Love’ meal for two includes one main and two sides for €10. The portion sizes are extremely generous. Choose from maple-glazed Irish bacon medallions and a wide range of chicken products or a meatballs dish. The sides include several vegetable options ranging from greens with pancetta to spiced chips and garlic dip. This is definitely a crowd-pleaser.

Money Saving Tip

Try to keep a section in your freezer to make the most of special offers or yellow-sticker deals. It’s brilliant when you happen across them in the supermarket, but not much use if you can’t take advantage of them. For instance, this week you can see that there are plenty of meal deals in supermarkets. By setting aside space you can pop any of the meals (which are mainly freezer friendly) into the section for use at another time.

Rotolo

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

Involve the family in making rotolo for a fun cooking experience. It’s one of those dishes to invest your time in over the weekend. Make sure you use a very deep dish to bake it in.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 40 mins

Cooking Time

 60 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 40 mins

Course

 Main

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 1 large pepper, chopped

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• Salt & pepper

• 1 beef stock cube

• 650ml passata

• 250g fresh lasagne sheets

• 200g grated mozzarella

• 75g grated Parmesan

Method

1. In a large frying pan dry-fry the mince on a medium heat until browned. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, dried oregano and season well with salt and pepper. Stir and continue to fry. Crumble in the beef stock cube, pour in about 150ml of hot water and stir until the stock cube dissolves. Lower the heat, cover the frying pan and simmer for 10 minutes. After this time has passed, turn off the heat and allow the meat to cool to room temperature before proceeding to the next step.

2. Grease a deep baking dish well with butter or olive oil then pour half the passata into the bottom of the baking dish and season well.

3. Take the fresh lasagne sheets and slice them in half lengthways so that you have long rectangular pieces. Take the first piece and spoon a small amount of the cooled meat mixture onto the length of the fresh pasta, sprinkle some grated mozzarella on top of the meat. Roll the the pasta into a tube then sit the tube upright in the baking dish.

4. Continue filling and rolling the pasta pieces until the baking dish is full. Pour the remaining passata on top of the tubes and gently rock the baking dish back and forth until the passata sinks into the dish. Season well then sprinkle the top of the pasta with the remaining mozzarella and the grated parmesan.

5. Bake in the oven at 170°C for 30 minutes before serving.

6. You’ll have wonderfully crispy cheese and pasta bits on top but soft and yielding pasta underneath. This dish is all about the texture. I like to eat mine with a fresh salad. You’ve probably noticed there is no fresh basil in my recipe; it’s not quite back in season in Ireland yet but if you are making this dish in the Summer absolutely include it.

Tea Biscotti

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

All of the best instructions begin with: First brew a strong cup of tea. That is where my "tea biscotti" start.

Servings

10

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 1 hours 15 mins

Total Time

 1 hours 35 mins

Course

 Dessert

Cuisine

 Italian

Ingredients

• 1 strong cup of tea

• 200g mixed dried fruit (sultanas, currants and raisins for me)

• 100g butter, softened

• 100g soft brown sugar

• 2 eggs 400g semolina flour

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. 24 hours before baking. First brew a strong cup of tea. Pour the tea over the dried fruit, stir and then cover and leave for a day or so.

2. The following day, line a 15cm square baking tray and preheat a fan oven to 140 degrees Celsius.

3. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one by one, beating as you go until completely mixed. Stir in the semolina flour and baking powder. Strain away the tea and stir in the soaked dried fruit.

4. Pour the batter into the lined baking tin. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing into pieces, approximately 5cm thick. Heat the (fan) oven to 170 degrees and place the slices of cake onto a baking rack - I use my grill pan here. Bake in the oven until golden and crisp. Store in a cool dry place.

5. Serve with lashings of hot tea and dunk the crisped pieces of biscuit/cake/biscotti into your cup to soften them before eating.