Presto Pasta Nights is being hosted this week at Eat The Right Stuff blog. I'm ready to eat it all. Go sniff it out.

Ingredients:

2 cups of broccoli, chopped into small florets

300g frozen baby peas

1 tablespoon butter

1 small onion, peeled and finely sliced

200g bacon, trimmed of fat and chopped into strips

¼ teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper

½ cup lite cream cheese or crème fraiche

350g short pasta, such as penne, farfalle, trofie

¾ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese plus a little extra for serving

Put a large pot of salted water on to boil.  When boiling plunge the broccoli in and cook for 3 minutes.  Scoop the broccoli out with a slotted spoon and put to one side. 

Heat the butter in a fry pan over a medium heat.  Saute the onion until soft but not brown.  Add the bacon and fry for a further 3 minutes.  Add the frozen peas and cook for a further 2 minutes.  Mix in the lite cream cheese (crème fraiche), salt and pepper and turn off the heat.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water for the recommended time.  When cooked, drain and add to the fry pan with the broccoli and parmesan cheese.  Warm through over a low heat, stir and serve sprinkled with the extra bit of parmesan .

Throughout every book, Jamie frequently boasts about his brilliant, 'simple' tomato sauce, but having tried it a couple of times it never ends up as great as the description. Either his recipe is wrong or we're missing something, so inspired by his 'bit of this, handful of that' approach we made the dish with our own instead. It's really yummy so I'll post it here sometime.

The dish starts with softening onions, then making a tomato sauce, sweetening it with a small amount of sugar, adding some balsamic vinegar and mixing with cooked tagliatelle. Finally, top with pieces of the ricotta, which had been baked in the oven with chilli, s&p and olive oil.

I've been burned (proverbially) by following some of Jamie's instructions to the letter, including making pizza dough when I created a well of flour and salt and poured the water in the middle - the barrier burst and I ended up covering the worktop and floor with yeasty water. This time, after baking the ricotta, he instructs you to 'crumble it' over the the pasta. Asbestos fingers perhaps, so I picked at it with a spoon to get lots of small-ish pieces. It still ended up looking presentable.

The good news is that both Kitty and I enjoyed it. Pasta and a simple tomato sauce is delicious as it is, but the ricotta added both texture and flavour to the dish and I'm sure we will cook it again.

I knew he would like this recipe as soon as I saw it, as he is a HUGE gnocchi fan.  I have been dying to experiment with making it from scratch, but since I haven't had the time to work on that (it'll probably be a winter project), this dinner was able to satisfy my honey's craving AND cut my time in the kitchen.  You could certainly change things up to include other vegetables, like peas or asparagus.  If you don't like ricotta, you could substitute another soft cheese or just sprinkle the whole dish with grated parmesan.  If you don't care for gnocchi, use any kind of regular pasta.  See?  Endless possibilities!

• 1 pound gnocchi (refrigerated or frozen)
  Kosher salt and pepper
  1/2 pound green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
  1 cup pesto (you can use store-bought, or you can make your own)
  1/4 cup heavy cream
  1/4 cup ricotta

Cook the gnocchi according to the package directions. Drain and return them to the pot.  Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the green beans and cook until tender, 3 to 4 minutes; drain.  Add the pesto and cream to the gnocchi and cook over medium heat, stirring, just until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Divide among bowls and top with the green beans, ricotta, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.