Dear mykidstime parents,

Now that routine has returned to my household after the summer break I find my thoughts turning again to those one-pot family meals that work during a busy week.  It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut, cooking the same thing week in week out, not challenging your cooking skills or your taste buds.

I have to come up with 3 new recipes for The Cook Club every 2 weeks so I rarely have the luxury of sleep-walking through the evening meal, I’m usually trying something new and taking the critisim from my discerning audience.  My family are brutally honest when asked what they think of a new dish, I usually have a good idea of whether they will like it or not but sometimes I’m way off the mark.  I was testing the Pasta e fagoili recipe a few months ago and I expected them to complain about the beans, that it was strange, not a soup but not a stew either etc. Instead they made very little comment except to ask for more and my older daughter say that she would like a flask so that she could take some to school the next day.  I was gobsmacked, this was the same child that had declared only a couple of weeks before that flasks were for ‘weirdos’.   You think you know your kids.

Italian food by its nature is family friendly so this month I’m giving you 3 recipes that have worked their magic on my family.

Happy cooking,

Judy