Introducing....

Frugal cooking month (or two)!

I was a bit of wally and decided to buy an ipod Touch for the heck of it. It's all very good, I have some cool apps and something pretty I can wipe fingerprints off but it's also taken £285 out of my bank account. I'm moving to a new flat on the 30th of July so now probably wasn't the best time...so basically I'm going to cut back on what I'm spending from now on, and a large part of that is food.

Fear not, i've done it before and have had great fun with it. I'll not post any of my experimental disasters, only the good stuff.

I've started off with:

Mediterranian Pasta Bake

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped into chunks
• 2 courgettes, chopped
• 1 small aubergine, chopped
• 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
• 4 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1 tbsp of tomato puree, mixed into 200ml water
• 1 tsp garlic, minced
• 200g pasta
• salt and pepper

1. Put the olive oil, onion, courgettes, aubergine and red pepper into a roasting tin. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway.
2. Add the garlic, tomatoes and tomato puree stock and put back into the oven
3. While this is baking, boil the pasta for 10 minutes. Drain and add to the tin, season with salt and pepper and a wee bit of sugar.
   
4. Bake for a further 5 minutes, until the pasta is soft.

Simple right? Here's a few extra things you can do if you want to be a little bit fancy

• Add a splash of balsamic vinegar when you roast the vegetables
• Add chopped olives, they're ace!
• Add a bit of hot sauce or chilli if you fancy some spice
• Top with some vegan cheeze when you add the pasta for some extra flavour.