Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti

I can’t remember exactly where I got this flavour combination from that I’ve come to love so much, but I do know it was many, many years ago as I loved making it from the moment M and I moved into our home together (which is coming up on 12 years ago, which is crazy to think about).

With the tomatoes going crazy in my garden and the mint slowly calming down after a really bushy summer, it felt like the perfect time to share.

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

It took a while for this dinner to grow on M who has long believed anything with mint in it just ‘all tastes like mint’, (which I wholeheartedly disagree with, but I love mint!). This recipe is one made after many tweaks. I only settled on these quantities after he told me one night, with an empty bowl in front of him, ‘That wasn’t bad, it was actually nice’.

Hooray!

Alexander also loves it because he absolutely lives for tomatoes, sultanas and pasta. I’ve included a note on the bottom of how I serve it to my 2yo…

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

SULTANA, MINT AND TOMATO SPAGHETTI

Serves 3 (or 2 with left overs for lunch the next day)

Ingredients;
- Six large tomatoes cut into wedges
- One medium bulb of garlic
- A handful of fresh mint (or more, if you love mint like I do)
- 1/3 of a cup of sultanas
- 250g of spaghetti (or pasta of your choice)
- 1/3-1/2 a cup of ricotta
- Salt, pepper and olive oil.

Method;
1. Preheat your oven to 160c. Place your tomatoes and whole bulb of garlic in a deep roasting pan with a generous glug of olive oil. Toss, and roast for approximately 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes are jammy and sweet, and the garlic bulb is soft.

2. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil and cook your spaghetti as per pack instructions.

3. Before draining the spaghetti reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking water, then add the sultanas to the pot and leave for 30 seconds before draining (this helps them heat up).

4. Add the pasta and sultanas back to the cooking pot. Cut the top off the garlic bulb and squeeze in the roasted garlic, add the tomatoes and their juices and stir through. Add a little of the reserved pasta water if it seems a little dry (I usually don’t need it with the tomato juices).

5. Plate the pasta and dollop with ricotta, tear some fresh mint on top and add salt, pepper and an extra drizzle of olive oil to serve.

How I serve this to my 2yo;

Dice fresh tomato on the plate
Stir ricotta through the pasta with some of the tomato juices and garlic
Serve sultanas separately
I always include everything we’re eating, so I put some of the large fresh mint leaves on his plate to explore and bite (which he always does!).

Sultana, Mint and Tomato Spaghetti - nataliezee.com

This is a recipe I’d REALLY love to hear if you try because it’s so close to my heart (I know that sounds ridiculous, but I feel like it’s a little bit of a risk every time I serve it!). Let me know on Instagram, Facebook or send me an email - natalie@nataliezee.com

I hope you love it!

Nat x

(PS. I wrote this today listening to Alexander running around the backyard with a remote control monster truck and yelling, ‘Run faster Daddy! Run faster!’. I could not imagine a better background noise!).

GREEN SOUP

Prior to working under my own name, I used to go by ‘Healthy Natty’. I say it like it was 100 years ago but I think it was actually, oh, two?

I changed the name not only because I wanted to be taken more seriously as a photographer and not so much a blogger/influencer (I have no problem with these things, and I am guessing you can be both, now), but also because I hated the connotation of the word ‘Healthy’. I’d started sending back recipes ideas that contained sugar or butter for quotes and, occasionally, get replies along the lines of, ‘Oh, I thought you were ‘Healthy’ ?.

Healthy, to me, has always been as simple as listening to your body.

When my body says, ‘Eat loads of pasta with lashings of parmesan and a big glass of delicious red wine’, I never say no.

When, on a day I planned to do some exercise, my body feels tired and it’s extra difficult to get out of bed, I never ignore it. I would never, on that day, force myself out of bed and into the cold for a run.

And when my body says ‘I think I’d like some green veggies now’, I almost always make a version of this…

GREEN SOUP

Ingredients

- 2 x heads of broccoli, roughly chopped
- 1 small bag of frozen peas
- 1 small bag of spinach
- 2 zucchinis, roughly chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1-2 tsps of ground cumin
- 1-2 cups of stock (I used vegetable).
- Greek yoghurt or sour cream, fresh herbs, croutons and salt and pepper to serve

Method

Add all of the ingredients, except the yoghurt, to a pot and boil, lid on adding a little water if needed - but not too much as to not make the soup too watery. Sometimes I do this by accident and scoop a little water out before blending it up, but if you keep the pot on and stir regularly the top veggies will steam as the others boil.

Blend it up, season and serve with yoghurt, cream, fresh herbs or as I have here, crumbled mini-toasts in the absence of croutons (I love using left over mini toasts or crackers for this as to not waste them).

Variations
- Fresh herbs like basil, parsley and mint are delicious. I don’t add cumin when using fresh herbs (and with basil a few black olives thrown in is super tasty).
- If you have asparagus, green beans, frozen green veg or even lettuce - throw it in. This is the best soup for those vegetables from 3 weeks ago when you swore you’d eat more green veg… cauli works well, too.
- Parmesan, chilli or lemon (or combined!) stirred through at the end is delicious!

I hope, on those ‘I need more veggies’ days, you find this as nourishing as I do.


And before I leave I want to mention that listening to my body, to me, is not just about the physical but SO much about the mental and emotional. Not just where food is concerned (I truly believe a big bowl of pasta helps both my mental and emotional health, too), but, especially since becoming a Mum and through this insane pandemic, I’ve found it really important to stop listening to what everyone else thinks I should be doing for my health (Face masks! Exercise gently! Read more! Yoga!), and look inside myself for what I need.

Sometimes, what I need, is help figuring what I need out, and that’s OK. But I no longer find it OK to be told, by anyone, what it is I need for my own health.

Does that make sense?

I hope so.

Nat x

BAKED BEANS

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to escape to the country for a mostly wine/lots of fire/sometimes hiking weekend.  Perfect Winter formula.

Then, on the way home, we stopped at a cute little cafe for some lunch and a final chat and laugh. I ordered baked beans, and went home that night to make them (in a giant batch to enjoy all week).

I thought I'd share what I include in my baked beans;

BAKED BEANS
Makes - loads!  OK, just use less beans to reduce the amount.

Ingredients;
- 2 onions, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
- 3 sticks of celery, washed and roughly chopped (reserve leaves, too)
- 1 can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 1 can of cannelini beans, rinsed and drained.
- 1/2 a tsp of chilli flakes
- A pinch of cayenne pepper (obviously remove this and the chilli if you don't like hot)
- 1 tsp of smoked paprika
- 3 tbsp of tomato paste/puree
- 1 can of good quality crushed tomatoes
- 2-3 tbsp of olive oil

(Simple) Method;
1.  Fry the onions and celery in the olive oil until it starts to go golden, stirring frequently.
2.  Add the garlic, chilli flakes, cayenne pepper and paprika and stir for another minute.
3.  Add the chickpeas and tomato paste.  Stir for a further minute.
4.  Add the crushed tomatoes and enough water to cover the mix.  Allow to come to the boil.
5.  Simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken.
6.  Add the cannelini beans and cook for 5-10 minutes more.
7.  Stir through the reserved celery leaves and season to taste.

So easy!  Though not technically baked.

Delicious with crumbled feta, or even a little lemon zest on top.

And definitely with buttery bread!

If you missed the building of this scene, take a look at the 'BTS' story highlights on my Insta.  I forgot to take other behind the scenes photos because last week was insane.

Let me know if you give them a go!

Nat x