Tomato Basil Rigatoni

The Day I Improvised My Way Through Dinner

The recipe was originally called Macaroni Niçoise, but after I made some changes, it didn’t really feel like a Niçoise anymore. So, I decided to call it Tomato Basil Macaroni instead. Shorter, simpler, and definitely more me.

I scaled the recipe down from four servings to two since, as usual, I was cooking for me and my boyfriend, Jaden.

Here’s what I used:
175g ripe, juicy tomatoes
½ garlic clove (crushed)
175g rigatoni (or any short pasta)
25g butter
25g grated parmesan cheese
½ tablespoon chopped fresh basil
½ tablespoon soy sauce (you can also use miso paste or anchovy fillets)
Salt to taste

In a bowl, I mixed the chopped tomatoes, crushed garlic, and soy sauce until everything was well combined. Next, I cooked the pasta in salted water until al dente.. about 6 to 7 minutes on medium heatt and drained it well.

Then came my favorite part: melting butter in a pan until it gets all foamy and fragrant, then tossing the pasta in it until every piece is glistening and buttery. I poured in the tomato mixture next and tossed everything together.... and that’s when I realized "Oh no my tomatoes weren’t juicy enough!"

Cue: Jaden, the savior of dinner. I had asked him earlier (thank God) to grab some canned pasta sauce “just in case,” and that case was now. I mixed two heaping tablespoons of the sauce with a bit of hot water, salt, pepper, and chili flakes, then poured it in and let it simmer for a minute.

Finally, I sprinkled in the parmesan and basil, tossed it once more, and served it immediately. Simple, fragrant, and cozy. The kind of meal that makes you sigh after every bite.

And Jaden? He loved it. Again. How am I so sure? Well as soon as he took his first bite, he made that little sound again, somewhere between a moan and a “wow.” That’s when I knew he loved it. 

It may not be fancy French Niçoise, but hey, it got Jaden’s “wow” sound again and that’s all the approval I need. Maybe the best recipes are the ones that make you laugh halfway through and still end with smiles (and a kiss). 

Pot Roast Pork with Cinnamon Apples

 

Cinnamon, Pork, and One Very Hungry Boyfriend

So… this was my first official dish from The Encyclopedia of Family Cooking. I decided to make Pot Roast Pork with Cinnamon Apples, and I have to say, for a first try, it was pretty magical. I felt like I was creating something that says "I love you" without words, that's exactly how I felt making this dish.

Here’s my version, scaled down for two servings. Because it was just for me and my boyfriend, Jaden:
Butter (17g), pork shoulder (about 400g total, four slices, around 90-100g each), salt and pepper to taste, cinnamon (2 tsp), and two green Granny Smith apples. One peeled, one not.

First, I preheated the oven to 200°C. Melted 17g of butter in a flameproof casserole, rolled the pork slices in a mix of salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, then seared them in butter until they were browned on every side. After that, I covered the casserole with foil and roasted it on the middle shelf of the oven for 40 minutes, flipping the pork halfway through.

While the pork was in the oven, I moved on to the apples. Melted a little butter (just enough to coat the pan) added the apple quarters and the rest of the cinnamon, covered it, and let it cook gently for about 10 minutes. You want the apples soft but not mushy, kind of like how you’d describe your ideal pillow, if....your pillow was edible and smelled like Christmas. #lol

About 15 minutes before the pork was done, I arranged the cinnamon apples around it and roasted everything together to let the flavors blend. Then I poured the buttery apple cinnamon juices into a small saucepan, simmered it till slightly thickened, and served it as gravy.

And let me tell you. While all that was happening, the whole house smelt like cinnamon. Warm, sweet, and comforting. It smelt like a cozy home, like I was a wife cooking for her husband who’s on his way home from work back in the olden days. It was such a simple thing, but standing there, surrounded by that smell, I just felt so... content. Jaden kept asking, “Are you done yet? Are you done yet?” because he was starving, and honestly, I don’t blame him.

When it finally came out of the oven, the pork was just. Perfect. Tender, juicy, that kind of beautiful golden brown that makes you want to take a thousand photos before cutting into it. When Jaden sliced through with his knife and fork, the inside was just stunning.. roasted through but still so soft.

Now, Jaden told me before that he likes pork, but he’s not obsessed with it. So yes, I was risking it a little. I even told him to pretend I was a chef and he was Gordon Ramsay and to judge me strictly (bad idea by the way, terrifying).

But guess what? He loved it. Like, (could not stop talking about it) loved it. He made this sound when he took his first bite.. somewhere between a moan and a “wow”, and I felt so relieved. After that, he just kept asking, “When are we having this again?”

So yeah, my first dish turned out to be a total win. It wasn’t just about cooking something delicious. It was about seeing someone I love enjoy it, really enjoy it. Maybe that’s what cooking’s all about anyway, not just feeding stomachs, but feeding hearts.

The Girl Behind The Spoon

 

Hi, I’m Angel.

I’ve always loved the kitchen. It’s, I would say, the best part of any house. It’s what turns a house into a home, you know what I mean? It’s where you pour out your love and serve it to your loved ones.

This might sound a little embarrassing to say, but I used to think baking was my passion. Until one night, as I sat quietly alone after cooking for four days in a row, following this old cookbook passed down from my mum, I realized: I love cooking. It doesn’t feel like a chore or a routine, which is what baking started to feel like. I don’t feel that spark in baking anymore (though I mean no disrespect to it!).

I just never realized how much joy cooking brings me. I used to tell people that I went to baking school because I watched a lot of baking videos and one day decided to learn it. But no! I remembered now, that wasn’t true. What I really wanted was crushed. I never even watched baking videos. It was always cooking videos. Every single day during Covid, my favourite thing to watch, and i would only watch from this specific cook, no jokes but I'm quite sure I've watched everything she cooked on her channel. I’d fall in love with it again and again.

When I told my parents I wanted to study culinary, they thought I wasn’t suitable for it… just like when I wanted to learn drums as a kid but got pushed into piano instead.

But back to cooking! This blog is where I’ll document my adventures through The Encyclopedia of Family Cooking. One recipe at a time, one story at a time. I’m not a professional chef, just a girl who loves a good meal and the comfort it brings.

So, here’s to spoonfuls of joy, learning, and maybe a huge mess or two in the kitchen.
Welcome to Angel’s Spoonfuls.