This spicy calamari pasta may look simple, and it only takes about 20 minutes to make, but the flavour combinations are complex and perfectly balanced.

SERVES 4 // COOKING TIME 20 mins

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
15g basil, chopped, a few leaves reserved to garnish
¼ tsp chilli flakes
Salt and black pepper
500 g calamari tubes, cut into rings
410 g tin chopped tomatoes
¼ cup capers
1 tbsp sugar
400 g linguine, cooked as per packet instructions
Parmesan, grated, to serve

METHOD
1. Heat the oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, chopped basil and chilli. Season and fry for 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the calamari, reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes, until tender.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes, capers and sugar, and cook for 10 minutes.
4. Toss the spicy calamari with the pasta, season with pepper and garnish with extra basil leaves. Serve with Parmesan.

If you’re struggling to decide on what to make for dinner then this quick and delicious pasta puttanesca recipe has your name on it. You’re also likely to have many of these ingredients in your pantry.

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If you’re struggling to decide on what to make for dinner then this quick and delicious pasta puttanesca recipe has your name on it. You’re also likely to have many of these ingredients in your pantry.

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsps olive oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Zest of ½ orange
2 × 170 g tins tuna in oil
1 cup black olives, pitted and chopped
⅓ cup capers, drained and chopped
½ tsp red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
400 g linguine, cooked
2 tbsps chopped chives, to garnish

METHOD
1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over low heat. Add the garlic and fry until it starts to brown.
2. Stir in the cherry tomatoes, orange zest, tuna (along with the oil), olives and capers. Allow to simmer for about 20 minutes, then remove from the heat. Add the vinegar and season.
3. Toss the linguine with the sauce to coat. Serve garnished with the chopped chives.

Feel like you’re eating a restaurant-quality meal in the comfort of your own home, with this delicious spicy shrimp pasta recipe. You must try it!

The post Pasta puttanesca appeared first on MyKitchen.

Michelle’s philosophy of regional, sustainable cooking sprang from a traditional South African home, where a luscious garden offered loads of home-grown produce and mealtimes were taken seriously. She studied culinary arts and then worked at several restaurants in and around Cape Town, before joining the team at Pierneef à La Motte in 2010. She helped them make the top 10 in the 2013 Eat Out DStv Food Network Awards, becoming the executive chef in 2014. She showed us how to whip up her spectacular grilled kingklip (back on the green list by the way!) with white chocolate Béarnaise.

And don’t forget to check out what we got up to in the La Motte kitchen!

SERVES 6 // COOKING TIME 120 min

INGREDIENTS
For the white-chocolate & rooibos oil
120g white chocolate, chopped
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup grapeseed oil
10g rooibos powder
For the white-chocolate & rooibos Béarnaise
2 tsp butter
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
150 ml white wine
150 ml fish stock
1 egg yolk
White-chocolate & rooibos oil
For the smoked-potato, caper & onion salad
600g baby potatoes, boiled, peeled and cooled
30g Italian parsley, chopped
20g dill, chopped
10g chives, chopped
1 bunch spring onions, sliced
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
3 tbsp capers, fried until crisp
Salt and  black pepper
For the kingklip
6 × 150g kingklip fillets
Salt
Lemon-infused olive oil, to drizzle
Butter, to brush
Lemon juice

METHOD
For the white-chocolate & rooibos oil
1. Melt the chocolate.
2. Slightly warm the olive and grapeseed oils, and mix with the rooibos and melted chocolate.
3. Use a hand blender to combine the mixture completely. Leave to cool to room temperature.
For the white-chocolate & rooibos Béarnaise
1. Melt the butter over medium heat. Fry the onion and garlic until translucent, 5 minutes.
2. Deglaze the pan with wine and let it reduce until almost dry. Add the stock and cook until sauce is reduced by half. Strain through a sieve into a bowl.
3. Whisk in the egg yolk.
4. Gradually pour in the white-chocolate & rooibos oil, whisking constantly, until sauce is creamy, buttery and sticking to the back of a wooden spoon. Set aside.
For the smoked-potato, caper & onion salad
1. Slice potatoes into 2 cm-thick rounds. Place on a perforated tray that fits in an oven tray. Sprinkle some wood shavings for smoking into the oven tray and place the potatoes on top. Cover with foil and cook on the stovetop over medium heat until it starts to smoke. Leave for 2–3 minutes. Take off the stove and leave covered for 5 minutes.
2. Place the potatoes in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and season.
For the kingklip
1. Season the fish with salt and drizzle with olive oil.
2. In a hot griddle pan, grill the fish for 4 minutes on each side. Brush with butter and squeeze over fresh lemon juice.
3. Serve with potato salad and Béarnaise sauce.

The post Chef Michelle Theron’s grilled kingklip with white chocolate Béarnaise appeared first on MyKitchen.

How gorgeous is this Greek whole baked fish? And you won’t believe how easy it is to make at home. So if you are having family and friends over and you guys are missing those summery fish braais, here’s your solution.

SERVES 2 // COOKING TIME 60 mins

INGREDIENTS
5 pickled vine leaves, optional
1 kg fresh fish, scales and entrails removed
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
Handful origanum sprigs
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
50g butter
4 tbsp capers

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Spread the vine leaves along the bottom of a roasting tray. Place the fish on top and stuff with lemon slices and garlic.
3. Scatter the origanum and olives over the fish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the fish in the oven for 20–25 minutes, or until fish is opaque and the flesh flakes with a fork. If the fish is not cooked, return to oven for 5–10 minutes.
5. During the last 5 minutes of the fish cooking, place the butter in a shallow frying pan over high heat and cook until the milk solids on the base of the pan have turned a golden-brown colour and the butter smells nutty.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and add the capers.
7. Pour the burnt caper-butter over the fish and serve with fresh herbs and a green leafy salad.

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