Sometimes, it's cupboard time

I have a new cookbook (Home Cooking Year, Clair Thompson). As I've said several times lately, I'm more in the mood for cookery, and particularly I get more interested in vegan stuff when it's cooler and roasting veg seems like more of a plan. There's going to be some nice cooking to be done.

But, on the other hand, life is quite complicated at the moment. I'm sleeping badly. I am worried and/or stressed about an interesting variety of things. And the view from my kitchen window is this. 

#LifeGoals #inspo

(There's an away slope near my window, that water isn't coming in. But still. Pleuk)

 

So, yeah. It's time to do Pasta and Something. Specifically my lovely staple pasta with frozen peas, cherry tomatoes, some sort of herb and some sort of meat/spice. Usually coriander and chorizo for the last two, but it might not be. Depending on what's in the fridge/freezer it can be more on the pasta side or more salad. This was at least 50% veg - it's still summer, after all. And it was coriander plus spare dill for the herbs, but it was a tip from Stef that Sacla's nduja pesto was worth a shot that gave me the meat component. I used to love nduja, back when chillies were something I could cheerfully eat, but this diluted version is much more my speed these days - it's still got some spice and flavour, which is all you really want from the meat component.

It's very forgiving. And quick. You could put all your ingredients out before doing 7pm yoga and still have dinner before 8.30. 

And, you know, tasty. I know pasta assemblages aren't all that fancy, but if you've never tried this sort of mix, I commend it to you. It'll do all year, but is especially handy when you have tomatoes that actually taste of something. Bit of a mess, but delicious.