Donal's Real Time Recipes Season 2 Episode 2

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00:00Creamy, dreamy, irresistibly tasty, whether it's the key ingredient or main

00:05event, Philadelphia is the one cooks reach for. You've got a friend in Philly.

00:10They say the dinner table is the heart of the home, but what they forget to

00:15mention is the absolute chaos it takes to get there. Navigating the small daily

00:21hurdles, the inevitable chaos and the everyday victories are what make family

00:25life such an adventure. Welcome to the bit between the fridge and the fork where

00:34the chaos battles calm and pasta waits for no one. I literally would eat that

00:40directly from the pan. This is not a cooking show about perfection. This is

00:46real-time cooking where every minute matters and every dinner served is a

00:51small triumph. So let's get cooking.

00:58Now I make no apologies for this episode because yes it is another pasta party and

01:03honestly I could do one every single week. Pasta is my go-to, my midweek rescue, my

01:09crowd-pleaser, my what do we even have in the fridge solution and this time we're

01:13taking things up a notch. We're starting with a pumped up amatriciana, smoky bacon,

01:19chilli heat, a rich tomato sauce and a twist that takes it somewhere extra savoury and

01:24satisfying. I know you might be shouting at the telly but it works a treat. Then we're

01:30going full comfort mode with brock and cheese. Double the cheese, double the fun.

01:34Steamed broccoli bringing the bite with cream cheese for a smooth finish. Soft pasta and a

01:39creamy cheese sauce. And finally the ultimate pantry pasta hero. Smashed sausage pasta. Big, bold and fast.

01:48Just smash, sizzle, stir and that is dinner sorted. So whether it's a celebration or just a

01:53celebration or just a Tuesday, grab a pan, boil the kettle, the pasta party starts right now.

02:06Now this pasta recipe is unapologetically easy. It is super simple to do and it highlights some fantastic

02:13store cupboard ingredients that just need a little moment in the sun. I'm going to start off by getting my pasta

02:18cooked off and while that's cooking, we're going to make the sauce. My pot is slightly simmering. I have

02:23a freshly boiled kettle and I'm just going to top this up. And while that comes up to temperature,

02:29perfect moment to slice up some onions. This recipe is essentially a riff on an amatriciana which is that

02:35kind of spicy, meaty tomato sauce. But we're going to amp it up a little bit with some onions.

02:42I'm going to keep the root on and slice them lengthways because I want to see that texture

02:46of the onions as this sauce cooks out. Add a good glug of oil into the base of the pan here

02:53and get those onions in and cooking. This is the moment to get your pasta on. Plenty of salt.

03:00Always, always, always season heavily on the pasta water. It's the first moment of flavour to be added to it.

03:07The pasta goes in. And then let's check on these onions. We want to start introducing that sweet

03:15onion flavour to the pan. And while that's happening, I'm going to grab up some guanciale. If you have a

03:21piece of guanciale in the fridge, you have so many gorgeous dishes. Ideal for using in carbonara. But in this

03:29case, we're going to chop it up, add it to the amatriciana and get this really meaty flavour.

03:34If you've not come across it before, it's basically a cured piece of the pork cheek. And it's incredibly

03:40salty, incredibly fatty, but so full of flavour. Now, if you can't get your hands on this, pancetta will

03:46do the job. But I would highly suggest you get a nice big block of it and you cut it yourself.

03:52All that flavour is going to be locked in and added to the sauce here. Pop that straight in.

03:59Give that a little stir through and introduce the guanciale to the heat.

04:04And now, let's talk about flavour build. I've got garlic, I've got chilli flakes, and it's just a

04:10moment now where we're going to start introducing them to the pan. A smash on those garlic cloves and

04:15now have a nice fine slice. Now, if you don't want a really overpowering garlic flavour in here, a top tip

04:22from the Italian known as, is that you can take a garlic clove, just like this, give it a smash of

04:28a back of a knife, pop in the garlic clove in the mixture, allow the fat to get that taste and flavour

04:33out there, and then whip it out. It'll add the garlic flavour, but it won't be so astringent. But I love

04:38garlic, so I'm adding the whole clove in. Just keep moving it, keep agitating it, allowing that guanciale to

04:46render out its fat and for the onions to nicely soften down too. Whack up the heat. I'm going to

04:53add a couple of pinches of chilli flakes here. The guanciale is often cured with black pepper,

04:58so I'm not adding too much spice, but I do want that whack of chilli heat in there.

05:03Look at that. Beautiful flavour in the base of that pan. To this, we're going in with one of my favourite

05:11store cupboard ingredients, tomato puree. And we're going in with a hefty amount here. A good

05:16tablespoon or two. And top tip here, cook out your tomato puree. It's been sitting in a tube or in a jar,

05:23this is its moment to be reintroduced to the heat and brought back to life.

05:27I'm using a little bit of the pasta water as this cooks out because it has that touch of starch in

05:34there from the pasta itself that will help to thicken this beautiful sauce. I want it to be

05:39thick, unctuous and tomatoey. This is the kind of recipe you should be really worried about cooking

05:44in a white t-shirt. Okay, last store cupboard saviour, a tin of chopped tomatoes. And just ensure

05:50all those tomatoes cook together. Add a little pinch of salt and give that a mix through.

05:57Now we are coming into the final furlongs of this recipe. So I'm going to grab my bowl. To finish

06:03this tomato sauce, this might seem excessive, but a knob of butter is absolutely that thing that just

06:10makes it creamy and rich and flavourful. So just melt that in. It's time to turn off the heat, reduce it

06:19down. I'm going to grab a little spider,

06:25some pecorino cheese. And this is a lovely moment. All the hard work is done. So take your time at this

06:32stage of the recipe. Microplane grater and I'm just going to add little whispers of grated pecorino

06:38cheese over the top here. You could of course also use parmesan cheese, but any hard cheese that you can

06:45grate like this will work a treat. Fold this through now. And what you should be left with is the best

06:54pumped up amatriciana you've ever tasted. This pot can be served straight to the table. Loads of pecorino

07:01cheese, maybe some garlic bread, but ultimately an amatriciana which is absolutely not traditional,

07:07but one that is packed with serious flavour. This is ready to be served.

07:17We've got plenty of those onions, lovely big chunky bits of guanciale, and then this rich red sauce that

07:23wraps around the pasta. The flavour we're going to get here is phenomenal. Last little touch, some pecorino

07:31over the top. For a little bit of brightness, some extra virgin olive oil, and that is pasta dinner to

07:39the table in under 15 minutes. Right, let's tuck in.

07:50That is just big and bold and bright with flavour. A really simple bowl of hearty comfort food that

07:57everyone's going to love.

08:17Now, if you've tried everything to get your kids to eat their greens, this might just be the trick.

08:22We blitz the broccoli into the sauce so that it's totally smooth and creamy and they'll never see it coming.

08:35First thing I'm going to do is start off with the broccoli. Just take the florets off the stalk.

08:40Broccoli is one of those powerhouses of nutrition. And all I'm going to do here is slice these in half.

08:46We're going to use the broccoli to do two things. One, to make this fabulous softened broccoli cheesy

08:52sauce. But two, to add really gorgeous colour to this dish. I'm going to get the pan on to heat.

09:00A little bit of olive oil goes in. Broccoli goes in. Season with a bit of salt and pepper.

09:09And then just give that whole lot a little toss.

09:15Now, if you're looking at this recipe and thinking, my kids are definitely not going to eat this,

09:19stick with me because we're going to cook this broccoli until it's almost unrecognisable.

09:24A little bit of hidden veggies in amongst something that is really comforting and gorgeous.

09:29Once that comes up to heat, time to add a little splash of water.

09:34And then lid on and let the steam do its magic. Over here, I have a pot of water coming up to

09:44temperature. I'm going to add plenty of salt in here and cook the pasta out.

09:49Now, for this mac and cheese, this broccoli mac and cheese, you can use any short shape of pasta.

09:55Even penne will do here. But I love these little elbows of pasta. They're fabulous. They'll

10:00take on loads of that sauce. And that's what we're after here. Pop that straight into the pot.

10:05Get it back up to the boil and just give it a stir through. Now we've got two things happening.

10:10We've got our saucy broccoli situation happening over here. But I also have my pasta cooking out.

10:15While the pasta is cooking, time to grab some ingredients from the fridge. I've got some

10:19Parmesan cheese, a little bit of cream, some cheddar and a little bit of cream cheese as well.

10:24But because this is one of those really indulgent, comforting dishes, we want double the cheese,

10:31double the fun. I've got some cheddar here, a little bit of Parmesan. And I'm just going to grate

10:36these until I have nice shards. A mature cheddar is ideal. And then on the other side, I'm just going

10:44to grate some of my Parmesan. And the combination of cheeses will be what makes this dish sing.

10:50You've got that nice saltiness from Parmesan cheese, that beautiful nutty flavour from the cheddar.

10:55And essentially, this combination of cheeses is going to give that creamy punch to this mac and cheese.

11:01Now, I'm just going to check on my pasta. Keep it moving. The moment when you add the pasta,

11:05there's always this tendency for it to stick to the bottom. So go in with the spoon and just

11:09give it a swirl through. This isn't cooking out nicely. My broccoli looks pretty good to go,

11:14but I'm going to take it a tiny bit further just until it starts to soften down and we can

11:17actually mash it with the back of a fork. I'm going to pop the cheeses right here for later.

11:23I want to crack on with a topping that finishes this and brings it together. Broccoli works really

11:29well with hazelnuts. And so I want to make a sort of a crispy, crunchy topping that will really make

11:35this mac and cheese sink. To start, finely slice an onion. Into your frying pan, add a little bit of

11:40butter and once it's melted, add the onions to soften. In the meantime, roughly chop your hazelnuts.

11:47Any nuts or seeds can work here. It's really about using what you have.

11:53Add the hazelnuts to the frying pan as well as some bread crumbs.

11:57Give them a little mix to coat in that butter. I'm going to leave this to crisp up and in a moment,

12:02get started on my cheesy hidden veg sauce. Wrap it, mix it, or simply spread it.

12:22Now the top tip is keep your eyes on these bread crumbs. They'll easily catch. So I'm going to come

12:34back to them every now and then and ensure that I get a nice golden brown crunch. Meanwhile, I have

12:39some broccoli which has been steaming down at this point. You can see the water is completely

12:43evaporated and gone. So I'm going to turn the heat right down. And I'm just using a potato masher

12:49to squish this broccoli into submission. It's going to hide any veggies from broccoli haters.

12:58Okay, this is looking pretty good. You'd have to be a proper detective to find the broccoli now.

13:04Get rid of that. And then I'm going to go in with a tub of cream cheese.

13:11Give that a stir through and introduce it to the broccoli alongside a little bit of double cream.

13:19And just start to fold that broccoli through that creamy mixture.

13:27Now bring that up to temperature. And while that's happening, come back to your breadcrumbs.

13:31We're looking for that nice golden brown crumb and it's just about there.

13:35This broccoli mixture is now up to temperature and ready for a bit of flavour action. So we've got some

13:40chilli flakes. Just a pinch and maybe pull back if you're feeding to younger members of the family.

13:47Get that in there alongside a little black pepper and some salt. A hit of some lemon zest.

13:54This is now starting to bring this all together. Adding little layers of flavour,

13:58little pops of excitement in this creamy mixture are going to completely transform this dish.

14:04Lovely, lovely, lovely. Give that a little mix through.

14:07And now that it's up to temperature, I'm going to turn the heat down ever so slightly. I'm going to get all my cheese in.

14:19Now look at this rich, creamy broccoli sauce. I'm going to drain the pastas directly into that sauce.

14:25Not too much pasta water going in here. We don't need it in this case. And now that the pasta is in there,

14:33give it its moment. Just look at that. This rich, creamy green sauce. You'd never know what veggies in there.

14:41Give that a stir through and it's pretty much good to go. Over here I have those crunchy little crumbs

14:48that in amongst that kind of velvety texture you've got in the pasta. It's just going to give you this

14:53little surprise as you bite into it. Now let's serve it up. I'm going to take some of that creamy pasta.

15:00Now if you did want to, this would work perfectly as a pasta bake. And to do that, all you'd have to do

15:05is pop it into a roasting tin and top with cheese. It cooks really well and it serves even better.

15:13Some finishing touches of some Parmesan cheese.

15:19And then because we went the extra mile and added some crunch and some intrigue, we've got to add some

15:25of those toasted hazelnuts, breadcrumbs and onions over the top. Something that took only a matter of

15:30minutes to prep in the time that the pasta cooked. But it adds depth to that creamy, rich pasta.

15:38Last little touch, extra virgin olive oil over the top. Just brightens it. And that is a proper bowl

15:44of comfort food that's taking 15 minutes or less. It's the kind of bowl you gotta eat with a spoon,

15:51preferably sitting on a sofa.

15:58That is what I'm talking about. Fabulous, rich, creamy mac and cheese with that hidden veg run all the way

16:04through. But it's all about that topping. I literally would eat that directly from the pan.

16:09So, so good. I think I'll just go find a sofa to sit on.

16:21This is one of those get-it-to-the-dinner-table fast suppers. Really easy to do. Pasta, sausage meat,

16:36served up in style.

16:47There are some staple ingredients that are always in my house. And one of them is a packet of sausages.

16:53They are the building blocks for lots of great meals. In particular, this fabulous pasta. I'm going

16:58to squeeze the sausage meat out of their skins. But before I do, I want to get my pasta on and boiling.

17:04Now, while that comes up to temperature, I'm going to build the sauce for this pasta.

17:08I've got three red onions. And it starts off by building the flavour with these red onions.

17:14Now, this might look like quite a lot of onions, but they're going to caramelise down

17:18and completely reduce. First, chop the onions in half, making them easier to peel, then finely slice.

17:24Good bit of practice for the old knife skills. Now, the red onions are chopped. They're ready to go.

17:29I have my pan coming up to temperature. I'm going to add in a little bit of oil. And I'm just going to use

17:35my hands to squeeze in little meatballs from these sausages. It's a really quick way of getting meaty

17:44flavour into the base of your dish. And I don't mind that they're a bit raggedy. This is not a dish

17:49about being perfect. This is all about getting dinner to the table. Give the hands a quick wash.

17:54Sausage meat tends to be quite inexpensive. And even if you get bog standard sausages,

18:02adding some chilli flakes or adding some fennel seeds will start to add and build the flavours.

18:07So a little bit of chilli flakes in with the sausages and just keep them moving. I'm looking

18:12for nice little craggy bits that take on a bit of colour and add a bit of flavour to it. OK, while that is browning off,

18:18I'm going to top up the water in my pot with this freshly boiled kettle. This is a trick I've been

18:25doing for years. I don't know if it's the best way, but it works for me. And in my head,

18:30it means that you have a pot of water to the boil as quick as possible. Check on the meat at this stage.

18:35OK, this is looking really good now. Nice fizzy golden brown little bits in the bottom of the pan.

18:40I'm going to transfer this sausage out with the heat still on. Whack it up. A tiny touch more oil

18:50and go straight in with all those onions.

18:56A little bit of salt to help draw out the moisture and then just give them a mix through.

19:03OK, just fold those through. And when they look like they're starting to soften down,

19:09leave them to sit. Let the heat do its work now. And while that's cooking, let's get the pasta on.

19:14I've got bucatini, which is kind of essentially a spaghetti that has a tiny little hole in it.

19:20It swells up a little bit and holds sauce really well, so that's why I'm using it. But any pasta

19:25will do the trick here. Just gently coax it into the water until it completely submerges.

19:32Pasta is cooking away. Let's check on these onions.

19:35You want to bring them right down. Reduce, reduce, reduce. And while that's happening,

19:41I have some garlic cloves to chop. Just going to smash these with the back of a knife.

19:48These are the kind of pasta recipes that my family thrives on. Our go-to is pasta. And honestly,

19:53if I have a couple of these ingredients, they're getting some variation on this exact recipe. If your

19:59onions start to burn a little bit, do not be put off by that. Take some of that pasta water, pop it in.

20:05And just scrape off any of those bits that look a bit burnt.

20:11Fine slice on the garlic.

20:15Add that in and give it a quick stir.

20:19Okay, we're nearly there on these onions. Check on the pasta.

20:24And now gives me a perfect moment to get some sage leaves crisped up in a pan. Now this is a little

20:32extra, but it really does make this dish feel like something special. So I'm going to get my pan on nice

20:38and hot here. I'm going to add a good glug of some olive oil. Bring that up to temperature.

20:46Keep your eyes on these because they cook really quickly. Stand right back. You are going to get a

20:51little bit of sputter. But ultimately, you'll be left with sage flavoured oil, beautiful crisp leaves,

20:57and the perfect thing to top this pasta. Pop them on a little kitchen paper like this, drain off any

21:02of the oil, and that's our job done. Finishing touches now. Make room in that pan. Whack up the

21:08heat. I'm going to add plenty of butter. To this, we're going to pick off some rosemary sprigs.

21:14To this, I've got a controversial ingredient and not one that everyone loves, but most people don't

21:23even know it's there, if you don't tell them, is some anchovies. Take two or three anchovy fillets

21:28here. They're going to add saltiness. So do not be put off by this. Anchovies add this fabulous flavour.

21:37And when you add them into something like this, mush them in with that butter, with those onions.

21:42You're going to season it with a bit of salt and pepper. We're going to add a good glug of some

21:48balsamic vinegar. Add in a splash of some stock. And just by adding that little bit of stock,

21:57you're left with this rich and unctuous sauce that is now ready for those meatballs. Pop them in

22:03alongside all the juices that they were resting. I'm going to add a couple more chilli flakes to this

22:09mixture. Now it's time to take that bucatini straight across into that meaty rosemary anchovy

22:18red onion mixture. There's some serious deep hearty flavours going on here. Now to serve, twist a little

22:26bit of pasta straight into your bowl and then build up with those fabulous little meatballs, those jammy

22:32sweet onions. And it really doesn't need much else except those lovely crispy sage leaves. Last little pinch

22:39of some black pepper. Little drizzle of some extra virgin olive oil. 20 minutes to the table. You have

22:46dinner sorted. Let's give it a go. So good. Really gorgeous pasta brought together with a few store

23:00cupboard ingredients made super simple. That is a bowl worthy of your dinner table.

23:13Three bowls of pasta, three big wins. We kick things off with that smoky spicy amatriciana,

23:23simple ingredients, huge flavour. Then a little bit of green into the mix with that beautiful melted

23:29cheese. Comforting, cheesy, but with that little bit of freshness too. And finally the smashed sausage

23:35pasta. Bold, rich, proper stick to your ribs kind of food. This is why I love pasta. It's endlessly versatile,

23:43always satisfying and perfect for feeding people you love. For all the recipes from today's episode,

23:49visit rte.ie forward slash food. See you next time.

24:20Creamy, dreamy, irresistibly tasty. Whether it's the key ingredient or main event,

24:25Philadelphia is the one cooks reach for. You've got a friend in Philly.

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