Monday, July 03, 2006
Ricotta and Spinach Tortellini with Salmon
I can't believe it's only Monday, I'm so worn out I'm ready for another weekend right away. This morning I had a bit of a running in with a bus. It all started - as so many conflicts do - with hurt pride. Traffic was an absolute nightmare this morning. It was one of these days when I wondered if someone was paying idiots without a driving license to go out and have a bit of fun on the roads of central Dublin. You had people trying to change lanes in bumper-to-bumper traffic, running red lights and steaming up bus lanes. Everyone was tense and I should have known that it was only a matter of time before someone in a motorised vehicle would get annoyed with being passed by a bicycle. Today's candidate was a young bus driver whom I passed at a red light just outside the central bus station. Unfortunately, rather than just verbally abusing me as they normally do, this one decided to try to run me off the road. I managed to brake just in time before his rear wheels got precariously close to my bike. My reaction was the usual one - a hard slap with my flat hand on his side window. It might sound a bit extreme, but it works to stop any sensible driver. From the inside of a vehicle the sound is quite dramatic and you generally think you've just been in an accident. This gives me time enough to manoeuvre out of the tight spot and get on my way. But this driver was not taking the challenge lightly and followed me. I'm a good cyclist and wear a lot of protective gear, but let me tell you, being chased down the road by a bus trying to push you off the road is not a nice experience. So I slammed on the brake again and let him pass. At the next light, I was ahead again and finally got the usual abuse. In the end I both gave in and won by simply jumping a red light and speeding away. He never caught me again, but I arrived at the office exhausted and shaking.The rest of the day turned out to be just as stressful as the beginning, albeit less dangerous. When I finally got home - an hour later than usual because I wanted to get a job finished - I was ready to just collapse on the sofa and order takeout. But then I remembered that we had plenty of ingredients to make a quick tasty dinner for less money at home and got my act together and my backside into the kitchen. The result was a dish of tortellini in a creamy tomato sauce with hot smoked salmon - nothing special, but definitely better than stale, lukewarm pizza. And the recipe is so simple, it's just what you need on a tired evening.
a packet of fresh spinach tortellini filled with ricotta
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large or 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
50ml white wine
75ml cream (or, if you prefer, a few spoonfuls of crème fraîche and a drop of milk)
1 vegetable Oxo cube (or enough stock granules for 150ml of liquid)
1 ball of mozzarella, torn or cut into chunks
2 tsp fresh basil, chopped
100g hot smoked salmon, sliced (cold smoked works fine here, I just didn't have any)
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan to serve
Cook the pasta according to packet instructions, drain, cover and set aside. Don't add any oil or anything else to prevent them from sticking together! They will come apart in the sauce later and if you grease them now the sauce will simply roll off them making the dish much harder and less nice to eat.
In the meantime heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan over medium low heat. Add the onions, cover and sweat, stirring occasionally, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Increase the temperature to medium and add the garlic and tomato. Cook, uncovered, until the tomatoes are beginning to fall apart, about 5 more minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Pour in the cream and crumble in the Oxo cube. When the mixture has reheated, add the cheese and basil. When the cheese is beginning to melt, throw in the drained tortellini and stir to coat with the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve garnished with the salmon and sprinkled with grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.
Christine at 8:35 pm
