Had a few nice meals recently, all homemade from scratch.
First was a made up concoction which we call butternut mac n cheese. It uses butternut squash, which I cube and simmer with milk, garlic, seasoning, stock and a pinch of nutmeg. Once soft and cooked through, this is then pureed and, whilst it's still warm, I add whatever cheeses I have available to it, so it melts into it.....mozzarella and cheddar works well.
This is then stirred through cooked macaroni pasta, topped with homemade sourdough breadcrumbs and dried parmesan cheese and then baked in the oven until the topping is golden brown and crispy.
We also had homemade cod nuggets, coated in a mixture of seasoned breadcrumbs and rice krispies and served with homemade chips and mushy peas. We then had homemade Baileys' strawberry and cream and white chocolate ice cream served with a salted caramel sauce.
Last night we had homemade beef and aubergine pasticcio, which I topped with a white sauce with egg in it so that it set like a moussaka. It was very tasty.
I basically fried the mince off, then fried onion, garlic, red pepper and aubergine separately. Putting the veg aside, I put the mince back into the pan and added some tomato puree and a tin of tomatoes, (which I crushed). Cooked out the tomato puree for a minute or 2 then added the veg back, seasoned with salt and pepper, added ¼ tsp cinnamon, a little bit of the pasta water to slacken the sauce and cooked through for 10-15mins.
Meanwhile, I had cooked some rigatoni pasta and tipped it into a deep dish, then topped with the beef and aubergine sauce and then poured the white sauce over the top and then baked for around 40-50 mins until set and golden on top. Was served with a salad.