Cooking is a task that is often stereotypically portrayed as a woman’s job. It has always been the woman’s role to do most of the cooking and make sure the family is well fed; however being able to cook is a fundamental skill that every man should have at least a basic grasp of.

Sure you can eat take out, but you never quite know what kind of additives, oils, sweeteners or other unhealthy stuff might be going into your food. If you have serious fitness goals (which you should), then you need to be able to feed yourself.

Traditionally men have always been involved in food preparation, from hunting to butchery as well as cooking and baking. While you shouldn’t expect to become a master in a short space of time, we have got this easy recipe for men who can’t cook.

Penne Arabiatta

Preparation time: Less than 30 minutes

Cooking time: 10 to 30 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil plus an extra dash for cooking the pasta
• 2 medium hot chilies, finely sliced (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• Handful basil leaves
• 600 g canned chopped tomato
• Salt, to taste
• 400g penne pasta
• Parmesan shavings (or similar vegetarian hard cheese), to serve.

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Add the chili (optional) and garlic to the pan. After about a minute, add the basil leaves and gently wilt them in the flavored oil.
2. Remove the garlic, basil and chili from the pan and set aside. Add the chopped tomatoes to the frying pan and cook for two minutes on a low
3. Put the garlic, basil and chili back in the pan with the tomatoes. Simmer for at least 10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened a little. Add salt to taste.
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per the package instructions in large saucepan of boiling, salted water with a dash of olive oil. Drain the pasta and add the tomato sauce to it. Serve with shavings of Parmesan.

We usually tuck into a meat or vegetarian lasagna, but Mood Swing offers us a novel idea this month if people are avoiding red meat. Read on to find out how to make a Chicken Lasagna!

Ingredients:

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, boiled and minced
• 8 uncooked lasagna pasta
• 1 cube chicken broth
• ¼ cup water
• 1 pack of creamy cheese
• 2 cups of mozzarella cheese
• 1 packet ready pasta sauce

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna pasta for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside
2. Preheat oven to 175 degrees
3. Dissolve the chicken broth cube in hot water in a saucepan
4. Add creamy cheese and mozzarella cheese and mix
5. Spread 1/3 of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Cover with the chicken and the cheese mixture, and top with 3 lasagna pasta; repeat. Top with remaining sauce, and sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven until the cheese melts.

Dig into this tummy warming recipe courtesy of Italian Eatery Maestro! The mushroom sauce can be used on any type of pasta, if you’re not a fan of Potato Gnocchi.+

Ingredients:

1 kg potatoes
300 g flour
3 large eggs
1 g nutmeg
10 g salt
2 g white pepper
30 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Boil the potatoes (unpeeled) in salted water until tender and soft.

Drain, cool, peel, and mash them with a fork or potato masher in a large bowl.

Add flour, eggs, nutmeg, salt and white pepper.

Mix all with the Parmesan cheese in a large bowl.

Combine all ingredients to make a dough. Knead until dough forms a ball. Shape small portions of the dough into long “snakes”. On a floured surface, cut the snakes into half-inch pieces.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Drop in the gnocchi and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the gnocchi have risen to the top; drain and serve with the porcini mushroom sauce and grated Parmesan.

Porcini Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:
50 g porcini mushrooms, (very finely chopped)
1 small shallot onion, (finely chopped)
1 clove garlic (minced)
Large knob of butter
2 cups double cooking cream
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and gently sauté the garlic and shallot until translucent. Add finely chopped mushroom and sauté for a few minutes more on a low heat. Add cream, season to taste and reduce to the desired consistency.