Its Friday night and the plan was to go out for dinner tonight. But things don’t often go according to plan at the Garnett house.
I had bought a voucher special on Groupon( local bargain website) for 2 burgers for a price of one. And tonight was the night to redeem our voucher, I’ve been craving a good burger the whole day. All dressed, ready to go and I decide to read the voucher. It turns out its only valid between 08h00-16h00 on weekdays. So no burgers, imagine my disappointment!
My husband then gets an inspired idea. Why don’t I do a home version of chopped, the Food network channel programme I watch religiously. Cooking against the clock! With whatever I have in the fridge, and because of the time limit the freezer is off limits. So the challenge: make a delicious dinner in 15 min! Game on 🙂
Timer started!
I open the fridge, I have veggies, stock, leftover sauces, cream, yoghurt, cheese, salads, a few herbs, fruits. I choose broccoli, cauliflower, onions, spring onions, celery stick, cream, cheese and stock
From the pantry; I need a starch, but the one that’ll cook super fast. And I see I have a bit if a collection of different pastas, I choose spinach tagliatelle pasta. Moving to the spice cabinet, I go for the classic: salt, pepper, oregano, sage, chili flakes. Ok shopping done, that took 2 min.
Ingredients
- Spinach Tagliatelle
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Veggies- cauliflower, broccoli, 1 onion, 1 celery stick,1 spring onion, 3 cloves of garlic
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Spices- pepper, sage, oregano, chili flakes
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Liquids- 50ml cream, 50ml of chicken stock.
– Marble cheese- local

Method
- Quickly cook the pasta in a pot with salted boiling water. Cook for 5-7 min. Then strain when cooked.
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In a hot pan with olive oil, add chopped onions and soften. Then add the garlic, spring onion and celery. In 2 min, add cauliflower and broccoli with stems removed. Season with 1/2 tsp of oregano, sage and a sprinkle of chili flakes. Cook for a minute before adding stock and cream. It should take about 6 min to cook, season with salt and pepper to taste. You can add a bit more chili flakes for a bit more heat.
Mix the veggies and the pasta in a bowl and serve with a sprinkle of cheese.


15 min dinner done, in exactly 15 min! I win 🙂 and my prize- a shoulder massage from my husband and a foot massage from my son :).
15 min to cook and 90 min to write a blog about it!
Buon Appetito!