Let’s talk food!

So, we only ended up with the immediate family for Christmas Eve dinner. This ended up being a good thing, considering the cutting of the fingernail thing. In fact, it was such a convivial and relaxed meal, with just the kids and pets, that I might not invite anyone to a Christmas meal ever again!

I know it doesn’t quite look like much, but here was our dinner table:

So now that we have the picture, let’s delve into the recipes.

TOMATO PASTA SALAD (which, incidentally, isn’t even in the photo! Doh!)

This was the first time I tried this recipe and was such a huge hit that it’s now become part of our standard salad repertoire. The recipe originally came from the Better Homes & Gardens “A Treasury of Christmas Food & Craft” softcover book, 1998 edition. Here’s the more-or-less original recipe with my notes in brackets.

½ cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained (you can get gold easier than you can get sun-dried tomatoes here! Not managing to source any for Christmas, I settled for the equivalent amount of feta in oil with herbs)
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons oil, from sundried tomatoes (see above note)
½ cup olive oil
500g pasta bows
1 bunch fresh asparagus
250g punnet cherry tomatoes
250g yellow pear tomatoes
1/3 (that’s one-third) cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Salt, pepper
Fresh basil leaves to garnish

1. Combine sun-dried tomatoes (feta), garlic, vinegar and oils in food processor bowl. Process 20 seconds or until ingredients are combined. (I add the salt and pepper at this point, not at the end, separately, as the recipe advises.)
2. Cook pasta bows in large pan of boiling, salted water for the time stated on the packet (usually 12 minutes) or until al dente. Drain.
3. Prepare asparagus. (Now, the true way of preparing asparagus is to bend the stalk, which will snap at the point where the woody part of the stem meets the tender part. Unfortunately, this is only a game for restaurant chefs because you wouldn’t believe how much of the stalk gets wasted! My tip is, for big stalks, to cut off the bottom 2cm. If the stalks are skinny and all green, I just trim the ends. Then I get a vegetable peeler and I peel away the skin on the bottom half of all the stalks. It sounds like a lot of work but you get into the hang of it quite quickly, especially if you rest the stalk on a chopping board and roll it with your left hand while peeling with your right.)
4. Plunge asparagus spears into a bowl of boiling water. Leave 2 minutes, until vibrant green in colour and slightly tender. Drain, then plunge into a bowl of ice water. When cold, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into 3cm lengths. (I do my cutting beforehand. Have you ever tried to boil the entire length of long-ass asparagus spears? It’s frustrating if you don’t have a fancy asparagus cooker. So, cut first, cook for 2 mins, then cool very quickly in iced water. Drain and dry.)
5. Cut cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes into half, lengthways.
6. Assemble salad while pasta is still warm: Combine pasta, tomatoes, asparagus and parsley in a large serving bowl; mix in dressing. Add salt and pepper (if you’ve decided to wait till this point). Garnish with basil leaves. (I use the small leaves to garnish with and make pesto with the large ones.)