Mama's Family Cookbook ~ Parragon Books

Because my other half has been in hospital with Meningitis our children have had to fend for themselves, so they've mainly eaten beans on toast and frozen pizza for the last couple of days. Getting him home with us meant that I had the chance to cook a nice family meal that was full of fresh produce (thank goodness for online shopping!) and more preferable to anything he's been offered in hospital.

I was sent Mama's Family Cookbook by Parragon Books last week, and I've been itching to try out some of the recipes - before my partner became ill I had thankfully already placed an online shopping order, so I had all of the ingredients ready and waiting for the last couple of days. 

Last night for tea I tried out two of their pasta recipes. It took me 40 minutes to cook both recipes for the 8 of us who were at home, which is brilliant, I often spend far longer cooking and don't usually come out with such a delicious and popular meal.

 Roast Courgette Rigatoni 

 

This recipe uses roasted courgettes, fresh basil and mascarpone to give a creamy sauce with texture. It has subtle flavours that are appreciated by the whole family. My 4 year old thought this was delicious and had seconds, which is a rarity for him!

Creamy Chicken Penne

This recipe was a new one on us. I'd usually expect more ingredients and loads of faff, but this takes ten minutes and is incredibly cheap to make. Because I have vegetarians and meat eaters I substituted chicken for Quorn, which is a little drier and less oily so will give a different result, but it was a delicious dish, and lovely cold the next day with salad.

 Basic Pizza Dough

On the day of my Big Night In I'd intended to cook pizza anyway, so it was perfect timing to test their Basic Pizza Dough recipe and tips. It worked a treat - all of the pizzas had a really light base and well-risen edges which were really soft and tasty.

I'm really pleased with this book, the recipes are well laid out and simple to follow, the majority seem very easy and don't require a ridiculous amount of expensive ingredients. This is everyday family cooking and the 3 recipes I've tried so far have worked an absolute treat and every bit has been eaten. I'll definitely be making them again, and I already have the ingredients to try a few more of the recipes. The tips are a really good feature which really encourage a novice chef.

A great cookbook, and with a price tag of only £7 and 224 pages, 

excellent value for money. 

I was sent a copy of this book for review