I haven’t hung up the home cooking apron, quite the opposite. During the last two days of school holidays I was still fossicking through the fridge and pantry, combining ingredients, flicking though recipe books and magazines for inspiration and recipes to bake and make home cooked meals for my family. Unfortunately I just haven’t had a chance to write about what we have been eating. Instead, I have spent the last two nights covering books, adjusting uniforms, packing bags and attaching labels to everything that could possibly stray, in preparation for five of my children returning to school today. 

After wrangling my way through rolls and rolls of contact, my hands were stiff and sore which meant typing up a post was out of the question. This also explains why I opted to make my Speedy Spaghetti Marinara for diner last night instead of pulling out my traditional recipe. This version is so fast, so fuss free and so fabulously flavoursome that it is an ideal meal solution on a busy work or school night.


Speedy Spaghetti Marinara this quantity will adequately serve 5 adults. 

Ingredients
1 kg good quality, fresh marina mix (I used a combination of Australian prawns, salmon, sea bass and calamari). Your local fishmonger should sell a similar mixture or take a look in the seafood section of your supermarket. 
4 cloves garlic crushed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 x 500 ml bottle of your favourite tomato sugo (Italian pasta sauce). I use the Don Antonio brand. 
A good shake of dried Italian herbs or a handful of finely chopped fresh herbs from the garden (oregano, basil, parsley).
sea salt and black pepper to taste
500 g dried spaghetti

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil and when bubbling vigorously, add your pasta.

In the meantime, heat up the olive oil in a large, deep pot over a medium/high heat. Add the garlic and as soon as the aroma hits your nostrils, add the seafood. Toss gently so the seafood is sealed on all sides and starts to take on a slight opaque finish. This will take about 2 minutes. 

Pour in the sauce, along with about 150-200 ml of water (depending on the thickness of your sugo), sprinkle over the herbs, salt and pepper. As soon as the sauce starts to bubble, turn the heat to LOW and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Ladle the seafood and sauce over your cooked pasta and serve. Your spaghetti should end up with a light, tasty coating of sauce dotted with yummy, garlicky seafood. You don’t want the pasta swimming in sauce because this is after all a spaghetti dish, not a soup. 



On Monday night I made my Beef Goulash topped with Greek yoghurt as per the recipe posted on the 17th May 2013. Just type the word “goulash” in the “Search” window of Cabinet of Cookery to find the recipe. This was gobbled down with briskly blanched French green beans, doused in lemon juice, sea salt and olive oil along with a sprinkle of sliced hot green chillies. I also served up a big bowl of buttered steamed rice and the sweetest little Australian corn cobs that I stumbled across in Coles supermarket. I was actually looking for eggs and nappies but ended up with lots of extra edible goodies instead!