Monthly Munch: June 2016

The rain... oh, the rain!  We've had far too much to be reasonable, especially in a month purporting to be summer.  Looking back through my diary, I discovered that we did have some hot days too, but they seem a long time ago.  We started the month with a visit to Bristol, where we were generously fed and entertained by friends and family.  Graham got breakfast cooked for him on Father's Day, and counted votes for the EU referendum.  I wrote a guest post for Derbyi website, and attended a Derby Parents Social Group meetup.

Monster truck at Motor Madness

Toby

Trying out a motorbike for size

- has been doing a free 6-week tennis course, and (slightly to our surprise) really enjoying it.

- loved watching monster trucks pull a car apart at the Motor Madness event

- danced in the rain at our local village fete

- was Robin to his friend's Batman for a superhero day at school

- can do a forward roll and attempt a cartwheel.  Gymnastics suddenly seems to be the in thing among his friends.

Theo

Helping with the laundry!

- loves to ride his red motor bike - and any other vehicles!

Driving an old truck at Wild Place in Bristol

- keeps wanting to take photos with the camera.  He doesn't always get the angle right!

A slightly blurred portrait of Toby and me.

- has decided his favourite letter is W.  He points them out whenever he sees one.

- sings every phrase to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  "Grandma, Grandma, Grandma, Grandma..."  "I go outdoor, I go outdoor..."

On the Downs with Dad.

Thankful for:

 - meeting up with lots of lovely friends and family in Bristol

Balancing act by Bristol harbour

 - a nice long bike ride round the parks of Derby (well, longer than I've done for quite a while, anyway!)

Recipe of the Month: Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

By popular demand from my last post, here's the recipe for pasta with roasted vegetables.  The recipe describes the dressing as walnut sauce; it's really a pesto, but heavier on the nuts than the herbs.  Whatever you call it, it makes the recipe.  I've tried making the pasta once with just the vegetables, and it wasn't the same at all.

The recipe comes from a 20-year-old book called the Oxo book of food and cooking.  Every single dish contains Oxo cubes of some description.  This one called for two Garlic, Herb and Spice cubes, which I've never seen and have probably long been discontinued; I substituted with a clove of garlic and a spoonful of mixed herbs.

Vegetables for roasting: I used -
1/2 butternut squash, cubed
1 large courgette, sliced thickly
1 green pepper, in large cubes
1 onion, cut into wedges
6 mushrooms, quartered
Olive oil to drizzle
250-350g dried fusilli or tagliatelli

For the sauce:
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp mixed dried herbs
50g walnuts
a good handful of fresh parsley (meant to be 2 tbsp chopped)
salt and pepper
5 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F.  Chop the vegetables as needed and spread out in a roasting tin.  Drizzle olive oil over and roast for about 25 minutes until tender (if you're using butternut squash you may want to give it a head start).

Meanwhile, cook the pasta.  250g is what I usually do for the four of us, but increase to 350g if you are feeding four adults or older children.

For the pesto, peel the garlic and put it in a small food processor with the herbs, walnuts, salt and pepper, and about half the oil.  Process until it forms a paste, drizzling in the rest of the oil until it's the consistency you want.  Taste to check the seasoning.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and toss with the pesto and roasted vegetables.  Sprinkle a few walnut pieces on top if you like.