Flat Bread with Mushroom & Corn ...and one with Crab..?!

Without Cheese, With Cheese

Another quick meal - Seems to be a recurring theme with me nowadays and here is the genesis of this one.... It was a Saturday night and we decided to eat home. I wasn't really up for cooking. Thus, I tried to think of the simplest unconventional (i.e. anything but the usual) meal I could put together with whatever I had bought at the grocery store that afternoon. So, here goes.... I made flat bread with mushrooms and sweet corn with some salad on the side. Ummm...was tasty!

Ingredients

2 Flat breads (already had garlic and parsley added to it)

Sweet Corn

A box of Chestnut Mushrooms thinly sliced

1/2 Red Onion thinly sliced

Green Chillies - chopped

Emmental Cheese - grated

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Method

Heat the oil in a saucepan, then add in the chillies and onions and saute for about 2 minutes. Add in the mushrooms and cook for another 4-5 minutes until partially cooked. Remove from heat and spread the mixture over the flat bread; add the corn, sprinkle cheese, add salt and pepper to taste and pop into a 200 degree (Celsius) oven for about 10-15 minutes.

As you can see, there isn't much of a science to it. When using frozen corn, ensure it is defrosted so the water does not run into the bread as it melts, making the base soggy.

Since the flat bread was a hit with us, the next time round I made a CRAB VERSION for my husband. I used the same flat bread which had parsley and garlic already added to it. I spread crab meat (found easily at Waitrose) across the top, some chopped spring onions, chopped red pepper, chillies and Emmental cheese and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Voila - I had a happy husband! :)

Osteria Basilico

Osteria Basilico is located in Notting Hill on Kensington Park Road. We discovered it when some family friends were visiting and looking for a casual Italian restaurant that served good pizza and wine. Osteria Basilico definitely fit the bill! The pizza's are delicious, thin crust and bursting with flavour. The staff was very accommodating and let us add additional toppings, essentially creating our own pizza. We ordered two pizzas - one with pepperoni, garlic and chillies and the other was a Margherita with garlic and chillies. Yes, we like our chillies.

We also ordered spaghetti with clams and a rigatoni matriciana. The spaghetti with clams was a big hit but rigatoni turned to be very cheesy and heavy. Dessert was the standard Tiramisu and the restaurant did fairly well here. It was light and fluffy and tasted home-made. Not the best I have eaten but definitely good. All in all, will definitely go back to the place. The staff was friendly and accommodating and we got a table on the ground floor by the windows, as requested. Would highly recommend sitting on the ground floor and not the basement which feels a bit stuffy.