Spring soup…yes, with added coconut….and Penne mezzo furioso!

 Caroline and I are both under the weather, with me having contaged a heavy cold and cough probably on account of showing off  in my new motoring car with the sunroof open, and Caroline…well,  on account of knowing me I suspect (!) and so we both consoled each other by watching a fascinating progamme on the box about the history of Venice and eating dinner off trays..well, that’s the posh way of putting it..we actually perched plates precariously on our laps !

Started with a spring green soup I made for lunch to which this evening I added a small dash of coconut milk and some grated nutmeg. Was an unremarkable but good hearty soup…nothing more, nothing less. I added a few shavings of goats cheese to add to the taste, and to make it look pretty for you lot !

I was motivated to do an Arrabiata sauce by dinner in town the other day, and on the whole got it about right, apart from using a little too much olive oil in the sauce.

I only ever use one sort of ‘ready made’ pasta sauce, and that is Lloyd Grosman’s range which is excellent, to which I added some baby tomatoes – not the smoked ones…too strong – a fistful of dried chilies - I bought them this afternoon and have to say found they had an odd, slightly acrid taste, so may throw them and try again – and a heap of fresh basil.

I also made the mistake of not chopping up the dried chillies, so there were pockets of impossibly hot sauce, as one bit on a whole chili, and the rest fairly normal in spicyness. I give it 6/10.

We had a small dollop of Lidl Vanilla with some pineapple, and to drink we had…tap water !

Tomorrow, it’s the Monaco Grand Prix….must get to bed early.