Spaghetti with Cherry Tomatoes, Ricotta and Spinach

One of the very first cookbooks I received as a gift was from my sister for my 18th birthday. At the time, I had no idea who Bill Granger was or what he was well known for, but flipping through Simply Bill I could immediately tell that Bill Granger's approach to food was all about simplicity and a focus on fresh ingredients.

A while back I visited Bills in Surry Hills for dinner and my sister ordered this spaghetti dish which looked so minimalistic on the menu but was bursting with flavour. I remembered seeing the dish in Simply Bill so I tried out the recipe at home and was surprised at how simple it was to recreate.

The ricotta imparts a lovely creaminess to the pasta dish while roasting the vegetables brings out the natural sweetness from the onion and richness from the tomatoes. Toss it all into some cooked pasta with some baby spinach and you have yourself a quick and tasty dinner in no time!

Bills, Surry Hills

Bills is somewhat of a breakfast institution in Sydney, and it shames me to admit that, even though I am a born and bred Sydneysider, it was only a few weeks ago that I first visited Bills for brunch. We arrived at 12 so they had already progressed onto their lunch menu, but luckily for me all of Bills classic breakfast dishes were also offered for lunch :)

Sweet corn fritters with roast tomato, spinach and bacon - $18.50

To be honest, no matter how much hype I hear about the scrambled eggs, I simply can not bring myself to pay $13.50 for scrambled eggs and toast (especially when I know the secret ingredient is lots of cream!). Instead, I opt for the sweet corn fritters, which are two lovely crisp patties of pop-in-your-mouth corn held together by an eggy batter. Sandwiched between these tasty fritters are pieces of juicy roasted roma tomatoes, baby spinach leaves and the best bacon I have tasted to date! The bacon wasn't particularly crispy but it just had the most amazing smokey bacony flavour. I don't know what kind of bacon I've been eating in the past but this is what REAL bacon should taste like! Needless to say I ate every last bit of this dish.

Semolina-crusted calamari with lemon, parsely, green beans and fennel - $19.50