Jamie's wife's favorite Saturday afternoon pasta

Yet another recipe from Cook with Jamie, this pasta dish is simple, quick and pretty good. It's not of the same oh-my-god-this-is-the-greatest-thing-ever caliber (see Sticky Finger Lobster) but it was pretty good. Jamie himself admits that he can't see what his wife sees in this dish but she loves it and so, being the good husband that he undoubtedly is, he added it to his cookbook.

As always, I'm not going to give you his exact recipe but I will tell you what the ingredients are. Basically you've got red onion, red chilli, cinnamon, fresh basil, canned tomatoes (or try fresh, they're in season right now up here in the North Hemisphere), canned tuna in olive oil (I bought some lovely line caught, selective fishing tuna which, fingers crossed, might have less mercury in them), penne, lemon zest, olive oil and the pasta cheese of cheeses parmigiano reggiano. Combine as your cook logic dictates and you should be fine. And maybe not providing amounts is actually a good thing. You're not following some Brit's scientific equation. You're actually going at it for yourself...more or less. Anyways, it's worth trying. Really simple and good.

Early Morning Brik

Yet another lovely morning, getting paid to stay at home while a professional cleaning crew goes over the office I work at. It just smells like a campfire in there but apparently that's bad.

The recipe I cooked this morning was the first I've tried of Gourmet Magazine May issue. Since this issue focused on travel and food, the recipe for brik (pronounced breek) come from Tunisia. Basically, it's a fried tuna and egg turnover.

Though it was difficult to cook the egg inside while keeping the outside of the dough unburned, the end result was well worth it. And by the time I was cooking the fourth brik, I had gotten the hang of it.

The result was a smooth flavoured breakfast which the magazine informs me could also be eaten as a light supper or as a snack. The crispy exterior is a perfect contrast to the soft and gooey interior, the whole deliciously bathed in egg yolk. Here then is the recipe.

Brik

1 can tuna in oil, drained

1/4 cup chopped scallions or shallots

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 tbsp drained capers, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil plus additional for brushing

Salt

Pepper

1 egg white

1 tbsp water

About 3 cups vegetable or peanut oil

6 spring-roll or wonton wrappers

6 whole eggs (medium sized).

1. Mash together tuna, scallions, parsley, capers, olive oil, salt and pepper.

2. Stir egg white with water

3. Heat vegetable or peanut oil in heavy skillet.

4. The tricky part. Lightly oil wrappers leaving about an inch untouched on the side. Form rings of tuna mixture in the bottom right hand corner over the olive oil. The moat should be large enough to keep egg in but not too large as to make it impossible to fold wrapper.

5. Brush edges of wrapper with egg white mixture and break a whole egg into the middle of the tuna ring.

6. Quickly fold wrapper and seal by pressing down on edges.

7. Take brik by the bottom right tip and gently lower into oil. With a metal spoon, lap some oil over un-submerged part of brik.

8. Cook briks until golden brown on each side. The egg inside should be given enough time to cook so make sure that the oil isn't too hot as to burn the wrappers before the egg has time to do its thing.

9. Repeat process. Make sure not to make too many briks at one time as the whole egg will make the wrapper soggy and impossible to handle.

10. Enjoy!