Lasagne always reminds me of my Mam. I remember her making it in the kitchen, carefully layering bolognese sauce, lasagne sheets and a creamy mushroom sauce, before smothering the lot with grated cheese. It was always delicious, and most importantly made with love.
Now my Mum
is miles away and I miss her. Growing up is great, but sometimes my
homesick self needs ways to feel close to her even though we don't live
in the same country anymore.
Making
lasagne is one of these ways, although I haven't used my Mam's exact
recipe (Campbell's mushroom soup being her secret ingredient, it is
impossible to find it in France!).
Still, as I sprinkled over the cheese and put the lasagne in the oven, just for one minute I didn't miss her.
Along with the garden tomatoes our green-thumbed friends were kind enough to give us these gorgeous sweet red peppers. After grilling several and chopping them into my homemade pasta sauce, there were still several chillies left over so I decided to give my own chilli oil a go. I love spicy food and this oil can be used afterwards to cook a steak, spice up a pizza or even give a bit of peps to a salad.
Much cheaper than the overpriced chilli oils available in the supermarket, it was really easy to make too! Cut the stalks off the chillies and crush them gently with a rolling pin to break the skins and release their flavour. Pop them in an empty glass bottle and cover with olive oil. At this stage you can add dried herbs, peppercorns or other types of chilli if you want to experiment. However, as this was my first time I decided to play it simple! The hardest bit to this recipe is waiting while the oil impregnates with the flavour of the chilli...a whole two months before I can taste it!
