Mackerel puttanesca linguini

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What’s cooking :

If you are looking for a quick pasta packed with flavors look no further. This dish is rich, spicy, salty and slightly sweet. All of that in one bowlful.

I came up with this recipe on a lazy Monday night after spending a long weekend in the country. The fridge was empty and having indulged in rich pub food for one to many nights I was craving a homemade meal. The canned fish from my fish cakes recipe testing sessions were still sitting on my shelf and it inspired me to make a nice puttanesca pasta, with a twist.

With a basil plant sunbathing on my window sill, some kalamata olives chilling in the fridge and the tinned mackerel patiently waiting in the cupboard, I had all I needed and it was a quick recipe to put together. It has now become one of my default meal when out of ingredients and I’m excited to share it with you.

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Lamb, mint and feta flatbread

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What’s cooking :

I had been looking for a quick dough recipe for a while, something that would still be really good even when I don’t have a lot time. But to me great dough needs yeast, therefore time, and I doubted such a recipe existed.

That was until I spent a few days on set with the lovely Anne from Anne’s kitchen blog . I was assisting her on the shoot of her TV show and my role was to shop, prep and cook different stages of the recipes presented as well as style the final takes. On my second day Turkish flatbreads were on the menu and I had to get the dough ready. Reading through the recipe, I was skeptical. With only 3 ingredients; flour, baking powder and yogurt, I couldn’t see how this would be any good.

Sometimes it’s good not to ask questions and do as your told. I learned a neat trick that day and I’m really excited to share it with you.

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Quick Bbq pulled-pork empanadas

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What’s cooking :

We are almost half-way through the summer and I have no idea where it has gone. Not that I am not enjoy it, quite the opposite; this season has already been filled with many trips, outdoors activities and good times with friends. But when you live in a northern country it often feels like summer is slipping through your fingers. I guess this is why coming back to Singly Scrumptious took longer than planned. There was always another rock to climb, a bbq to attend or a new city to visit. But I’m now back and ready to share delectable recipes with all of you solo cooks.

Some of you might have already seen this post due to a small glitch on the blog but I hope you’ll be happy to see it again, fully finish and ready to be read. Here is what I had to say about these smokey munchies.

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Short Hiatus – Japan trip

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As some of you already know, from following me on Facebook or Instagram, I have just come back from an amazing 2 weeks holiday in Japan and my head is still buzzing from all I’ve seen, tasted and heard. I planned on getting back on the blogging horse right away and share with you my discoveries but naively neglected the excruciating 9 hours jet-lag tiredness I’d be feeling and I haven’t been able to work as hard as I wanted to. With the visit of some family members in the next 2 weeks, I unfortunately won’t be able to do it all.

Not wanting to share rushed off recipes and post, I’ll be taking a short hiatus to give me time to reorganize myself and work on quality content. I should come back with inspiring food in early July.

In the meantime here are some of my holiday pictures and follow me on Instagram @aa_singlyscrumptious for some future updates.

Enjoy the start of the summer and see you in 2 weeks.

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Crispy yet creamy Orzo arancini

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What’s cooking :

For a year I was lucky to call Montreal’s little Italy my home. I lived 2 minutes away for the best food market of the island and delis selling fresh pasta, ravioli, antipasti and Prosciutto di Parma were my regular grocery shops. I was often tempted to opt for their ready meals instead of preparing something myself and I indulged in “Melanzane alla Parmigiana”, lasagna or arancini. I have a soft spot for the latter, having discovered these crispy stuffed balls on a school trip to Rome in my teens. I remember the thrill of biting into something I had no clue about, not being able to share more than a few English words with my hosts, and how excited I got when the crunchy, yet creamy balls fell apart in my mouth. It was nothing like I had ever experienced before.

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