Continued … from yesterday – the main course (ahem, except not in the same sitting – that would require organisation)

As mentioned in yesterday’s review, Coles are of the misguided belief that I can cook. Possibly because I’m always going on about food.

Really, I shouldn’t be so hard on myself. I can cook. I’m just not a masterchef, nor do I have the patience for things that require garnishes etc. So, yeah, there’s cooking and there’s cooking and I wander this wobbly line that is oft overlooked by the creators of recipe books and cooking TV shows. Also, there’s a mistaken belief that because I do actually cook most nights for the family I must therefore be one of  “those” mums. Far from it.

I digress (although it is a rant I may very well have at some stage, if that’s ok with everyone?). The fabulous Coles provided me with the ingredients and instructions for a Baked Rigatoni with tomato and Sopressa Salami.

This made my 10 year old very happy indeed.

Also, it was a bit of a change from my standard pasta bake, which is really just a version of my very own spaghetti bolognaise (a standard, three times a week minimum fare when my brain is fried) whereby I use some sort of short pasta, like penne or spirals or something less messy than spaghetti, put it in a dish, smother it in cheese and stuff it in the oven for twenty minutes or until I cannot stand any longer the “is dinner nearly ready” and I pull it out and serve it up before the cheese has even melted through.

This is the second time I’ve done this recipe, so it was slightly easier this time, cos I knew it. Also, given basketball training was tonight, it was a good one for pre-preparing (aka procrastination over tidying my office) and putting in the oven for twenty minutes when I got home. Which is why I chose this recipe for tonight

The former aerobics instructor/personal trainer in me struggled a little with this recipe, as it always does with the amount of oil many chef’s suggest is used in cooking various dishes. It is a bone of contention in our house whenever hubby cooks a meal. I don’t believe as much that is suggested is needed. He will argue, in his professional opinion, and with the training and experience he has, that, yes, it does.

I concede that the background and purpose of these two different roles is the cause of this argument, as is the outcome of each of these professions. I want people to be healthy and eat well, he wants the food to look and taste fabulous.

So, when I cook, the oil is cut right back. I also use non-stick pots and pans for the most part, so oil isn’t always necessary.

In this case, the salami needed cooking. I did use oil the first time and was repulsed (its a personal thing! I’m not casting judgement or saying its wrong or anything – I know some people love it and that’s ok!) by the amount of oil/fat in the pan. Second time, I didn’t use oil; non-stick pot, so all was good

The other thing with this particular recipe is that it requires cookage of the salami, removing it from the pan, then cooking the rest of the sauce. I prefer quicker, easier and the fewer the pots, plates and utensils used, the better. It wasn’t “hard”, I’m just more half arsed than that.

I do also use a pan where you can cook the sauce, add the pasta, mix it all around add the cheese and stick it in the oven. There’s a reason I got that sort of pan. But it’s not essential that you have one, by any means.

Aside from the cook one thing, take it out, cook more stuff, it was pretty easy. Something well within my capabilities. I also imagine, although I haven’t tried it cos I thought I’d give it a proper go, that you could use tinned tomato in the recipe. Not sure wha the final outcome would be, but if  you were in a hurry, it’s doable. I’m sure.

Says me who likes to make up stuff, including meals, and really has no clue until they are served and eaten. Or not.

This one also called for the inclusion of a bay leaf (I’m always forgetting to add these. Wish I would remember), and fresh basil and thyme. I don’t usually do the fresh herb thing, mostly because I’ve killed the ones we have growing in the back yard, or they’ve turned to a sodden mush in the vegie crisper in the fridge.

I’m SO glad that I threw them in this one. They do make all the difference.

Note to self: Remember to utilise the fresh herbs we now have

It is one of those meals that I like, in terms of cooking, because you have one pot for the pasta going whilst the sauce is cooking itself in another, and the two finish at exactly the same time. Perfection! Love it.

Mix the pasta and the sauce, and pour it into a baking dish (or, in my case, tip the drained pasta into the pan I cooked the sauce in, and mix it in there), add the cheese, and place it in the oven.

The remove when the cheese is nice and crispy on top.

Then serve it up and eat it.

 Despite my misgivings about the amount of fat in the dish (better second time around) and my habitual misgivings about me trying new stuff, this dish was Delicious!

Really, honestly scrumptious.

Kids loved it. I loved it. I think, but I’m not sure, that Grumpy may have heard about how fabulous it was, because he wasn’t home either time I cooked it and it was vaccuumed up before he was even aware he’d missed out.

Please don’t let my somewhat inadequate photography deter you from this experience.

Oh, and this one, like the ministrone soup one, is a feed the family of four for under$10 recipe.

Again, created by Curtis Stone and the info, recipe and cost breakdown can be found at www.coles.com.au

Disclaimer: Again, still not paid for these reviews. Still need a set of oven mits that I asked for for Mother’s Day and didn’t get. Nearly bought myself some, but they had Masterchef on them, and that would just be a big fat lie and cause my family to laugh and poke fun at me. Coles did send me the recipe and ingredients so I may adequately (pahahahaha) prepare this dish.