Marmite Pasta

"Mumma , Bappa ( father) wont be here tomorrow night for dinner, can you make Marmite pasta then?" asked my y little one very hopefully. As much as he ( or rather all three of us) hated his father and his numerous trips around the islands or the occasional trip abroad , one thing he has come to realise is that I make this particular pasta dish when hubby is  away. Hubby has just left for a 10 week  training abroad so as much as we are missing him, this particular pasta can only be made when he isn't at home for dinner. Why? He hates Marmite (LOL)!

As a child I grew up loving Marmite, this black salty spread a lot like Vegemite. Its either you hate or love it . My husband is not a big fan of it but the boys love it and  Marmite on toast is a great food to give when the  boys fall sick  and are  not in the mood to eat. My mum used to make us Marmite drink with Marmite, hot water , ground black pepper and lime juice when we had a cold.

Anyway I found this recipe on Nigella's Kitchen series where she makes marmite pasta. While her recipe is pretty basic , just butter, Marmite and spagetti , I jazzed up mine with chicken sausages, peas and  garlic.

Recipe : Marmite Pasta , adapted from the recipe Marmite pasta from  the book Nigella's Kitchen .

Serves 1 adult and 2 kids ??

4-5 Chicken sausages( I used Gill's Chicken Garlic )
2 cloves of garlic thinly sliced
1/2 cup  frozen green peas
2 tbsp butter
a little olive oil
1 heaped tsp Marmite
1/2 - 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
grated parmessan cheese (optional)
Water to cook pasta
salt
 about 200g- 250g spagetti
a squeeze of lime


Bring pan of water to boil and add enough salt to make it quite salty and cook the pasta till al' dente.  once the pasta is cooked add the frozen peas to  cook them for just 1 minute. Remove 1 cup of the water its boiling in and drain.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil ( about 1 tbsp) in a large frying pan and brown the sausages and remove. Cut into slices.

 Add the butter into the same and let it melt. Once it melts add the garlic and cook over a medium heat, till the aroma of garlic comes out.

Add the Marmite and  stir to mix in. Add a little pasta water , about 1/2 cup, little at a time and taste.  It shouldn't be too salty, if too salty add alittle normal water a tablespoon or two will do.   Add the ground pepper.

Add the cooked pasta,  sausages and peas and toss through the sauce. Add a little more  pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary, Cook  for 1 minute, switch off , add a squeeze of lime, about 1/4 of a lime. and  stir in parmessan cheese if using.

Serve immediately !

Now I have to say this ,  I recently read that Jamie Oliver has created quite a stir for his remark about bake sales in schools. As much as I love Jamie Oliver and am totally against sweet treats for bribes with kids,  I think its a bit too much. Why? well think about it, in my elder son's school they had bake sale just twice. Younger one's had ice cream day. So of the  school year due to just one or two bake sales is not a reason for obesity.  Both my boys schools try and get the parents to pack healthy lunch boxes and they even encourage kids to bring fruit , my elder son's school even going to the extent of having a fruit day where the kids have to bring a fruit for snack that day.  So  having a bake sale  does not make your kid fat!. Its something which is normally done to raise money for the school. Maybe we should try and make it more healthier , yes, with more fruits hidden in it  and less fat in them, or give one cake. I really don't think any one will by carrot sticks at a fund raiser.  what do you think?