Jamie Oliver Pregnant Jools's Pasta and Little Frangipane Tarts

Ok, so this is from the wildly popular Jamie Oliver book, Jamie's 30 Minute Meals, which I believe is the fastest selling cook book of all time. It's not a publication that has been without its detractors, however, with complaints about the amount of equipment and ingredients needed for the recipes and claims they take far longer than half-an-hour to make.

I think you'd be mad to attempt to complete the meals - which are made of several different component parts such as mains, sides, drinks and desserts - in full unless you a) have loads of time and money b) enjoy an element of danger when cooking (you are often required to have several pans on the go, as well as a boiling kettle, hot oven and food processor) and c) have someone else to do the washing up for you. I've only ever made a couple of elements from the meals as in this case when I completely ignored the instructions to make a 'Crunchy Chicory and Watercresss Salad', opting to simply open a bag of ready prepared stuff instead.

Anyway, the main part of the pasta dish consists of sausage meat which you whizz up with spring onions, a carrot and a stick of celery and some herbs and spices before frying, adding chopped tomatoes, garlic and balsamic vinegar.

I doubled the quantity of tomatoes to bulk the sauce out a bit and reduced the amount of fennel and chilli to suit Kasper's palate. I had hoped the extra tomatoes would and made the meal go a bit further - stretching it over two nights - but there was nowhere near enough, even though the recipe was supposed to be for six!

This was disappointing as I think it made for quite a high-fat meal as a result, even though I used sausages with leeks to reduce the meat content and add a bit more interest. I served Kasper's version plain and added salad with lemons to squeeze over and parmesan for me and James.

I also made the frangipane tarts which I was skeptical about during the making but which turned out brilliantly. You use ready-made pastry cases, then just add jam and a mixture of ground almonds, butter, sugar and an egg to make the frangipane.

I was doubtful because the instructions on making this mix here really unclear - eventually I used a whisk to kind of cream it all together but it was all quite rough and ready. I didn't bother smoothing the mixture over either but it all flattened out nicely in the oven anyway. I also omitted the grated orange as thought it was a waste and wouldn't be missed.

Incidentally, the recipe is supposed to make six tarts but I easily made seven (it would have been eight but one of the cases cracked on the way home from the shop).