In January I spotted a voucher mentioned in the Money Saving Expert news letter - buy one main course and get a second for £1 at Carluccio's. I'd recently spotted a Carluccio's tucked away in the corner of the top floor in Fenwick's in Colchester, so this seemed like the ideal time to have a discounted lunch date with my husband! 

We booked ahead and I was very glad we did as the space was quite small. We saw several people get turned away as they didn't have a reservation and all the remaining tables were booked up. Despite it being busy the service was still very good and we order drinks while we browsed the menu. Well, I should say while my husband browsed the menu - I'd already looked at it several times on Friday night and decided what I wanted XD

For a drink my husband had a very odd "Rosemary water", which I'd never seen before. It's sparkling water infused with rosemary, and came with a sprig of the herb in the glass. I had a little sniff at the bottle and smell was overwhelming, but my husband said it was very nice. 

For starters I ordered the garlic bread. This was possibly the best garlic bread I've had in years. The bread was a freshly made focaccia, with a lovely garlic butter melted on top, and then placed on a grill to give a fabulous chargrilled taste. I'd already told my husband to have half of it, as I don't like filling up on starters, but I seriously regretted saying that after finishing off my piece XD My husband had calamari, which he said was very nice and came with a little pot of sauce and a slice of lemon.

My main was a spaghetti carbonara. This was the key reason why I was so happy at getting the voucher, I'd been wanting a proper Italian carbonara for weeks. It was as good as I had hoped, although I thought there was a bit too much parsley on top. But apart from that it was lovely, the pancetta had a wonderfully strong taste and there was just the right amount of sauce to cover the spaghetti. Husband went for the Penne Giardiniera, which was large penne with courgette, chili and garlic, with crispy spinach balls on top. It genuinely wasn't something I thought he would pick as he's not a huge fan of spinach, but he said it was delicious and he was very happy with his choice.

The only problem I had was that at the end of my very large bowl of pasta I had no room for dessert! I had sacrificed half my starter to no avail. I'd already seen someone's tiramisu go by (husband thought my reaction was hilarious) and had been determined to order one myself, but there was no way I could fit a dessert in to my full tummy. 

Recipe - Chicken and Parma Ham Pasta

Following on from the success of my chicken and chorizo pasta recipe, I tried another new recipe that my Mum sent me! This time it's chicken and Parma ham pasta sauce, deliciously creamy and fantastic with tagliatelle, I instantly wanted to cook up a second batch!

The only problem with it is that, unlike the chorizo recipe, this won't really freeze well, so isn't suitable for batch cooking. However it is quite quick to put together on a weekday evening.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast - One per person, cut in to smallish pieces.
• Small pack of parma ham, it's quite salty so you won't need it all! I normally use the rest to make chicken breasts wrapped in parma ham the next day.
• Small pot double cream.
• Tarragon (dried or fresh is fine)
• A quarter of a lemon
• 1/4 to 1/2 a pint of chicken stock (1/4 is suitable for 2 people, 1/2 would be better if you're cooking for a larger group)
• Butter and olive oil

Cook cook cook

1. Melt some butter in a frying pan, and cook the chicken in it.
2. Remove from the chicken from the pan and set to one side.
3. Add a drop of olive oil to the pan, and tear the Parma ham into strips straight in to the pan (or cut it in to pieces while the chicken is cooking). Stir around until lightly crispy.
4. Add the chicken to the pan with the Parma ham, and pour in the chicken stock and a few generous pinches of tarragon (depending on your taste)
5. Simmer for 10 minutes. (I normally start cooking the pasta at this point)
6. Pour in some double cream and a squeeze of lemon juice, and stir until it's all mixed in with the stock. The sauce should be a lovely dark cream colour.
7. Taste it and add more cream or stock if you need it or need a bit more sauce, or some extra tarragon if you're not getting the flavour.
8. Serve with linguine or spaghetti, pastas which go well with nice creamy sauces.

The first time I cooked this it took me a little longer than expected. I think that second time round I'd be able to get it done in less than 30 minutes, great for a quick mid-week dinner!

Recipe - Chicken and Chorizo Pasta

If you follow my Instagram then you might have spotted my delicious chicken and chorizo penne pasta dinner the other night! This recipe is one I got from my Mum, so there's a very real possibility that it's already out there online on a proper cooking website.

However, it's so delicious and so quick to make that I had to share it on here. Thanks to me and OH having a long commute from the new home, having recipes that are quick to put together and don't need loads of attention are a life saver!

Chicken and chorizo pasta!

This pasta sauce is delicious, only needs a few ingredients, and can be chucked in to a pan and left to cook while you sort out other things around the house. I find this recipe makes enough sauce for two people on the day plus an extra portion for the freezer.

Ingredients

• Chicken breast, 1 per person, cut in to chunks
• Chorizo diced or cut in to slices, depending on how you prefer it. I use a LOT of chorizo as I love it, but you can use a smaller quantity if it's not your thing.
• Carton of tomato passata
• Tomato puree

Cook cook cook

1. Put the chorizo in a saucepan and fry gently to release the oil (you don't need olive oil, chorizo is naturally oily).
2. After a few minutes of frying add the chicken and let it cook with the chorizo.
3. Once the chicken chunks are cooked through pour in the tomato passata and a tablespoon of tomato puree.
4. Give everything a good stir, put the lid on the pan, and leave it to simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The joy of this is that you can leave it for longer if you need or want. Passata is quite runny so you have a lot of liquid, and if you keep the lid on with a low simmer then it shouldn't dry out.
5. Serve with penne or fusili. Personally I prefer fusili as the sauce sticks to it really well.

This freezes really well so if you're a batch cooking or meal prep person then this can be a really easy "make at the weekend and eat during the week" sauce.