#simple supper

We invite you to pray this together with your family, friends, or community before sharing a meal.  You can also pray it alone.

If you prefer, click on the image below to view it as a slide show.

“We are speaking of an attitude of the heart, one which approaches life with serene attentiveness, which is capable of being fully present… which accepts each moment as a gift from God to be lived to the full.” (LS#226)

  Reflection: How will your heart affect the Universe today?

“A sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings.” (LS#25)

Ask God for the gift of compassion for all His creatures.

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Loving God and Creator,

We come before You with humble and grateful hearts for the gift of creation.

In the suffering of communities devastated by ecological destruction.... 

Jesus, we feel Your wounds.

In the silent cries of extinct and endangered species…

Jesus, we feel Your wounds.

In the tears of the most vulnerable among us...

Jesus, we feel Your wounds.

In the greed and indifference consuming our planet.... 

Jesus, we feel Your wounds.

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We Cry Out to You

Caring God, the earth and we cry out to You. 

Along with the earth, we ask You to free us from greed, selfishness and indifference. 

Along with the air, the water, the land and the wind, we ask You to help us get rid of all the pollution.

Along with the forest, birds and animals, give us the strength not to destroy ourselves and the delicate webs that connect our ecosystems and all life together. 

Along with those on the edges of society, the unheard, the powerless, the struggling and the suffering, we ask You the strength to be just, merciful and compassionate.

Along with those in power and positions of authority, we ask for wisdom to be good stewards of our common home. 

And finally, along with the whole of creation and peoples, we give You thanks for all the efforts to restore our sister mother earth. Amen. 

Blessing

For the Good of All

May we be strong in virtue, firm in time of trouble, and always ready to help others in time of need.

May we be blessed by God as we share this food and as we work and live together for the good of all.

- Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, A Book of Blessings, 183.

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Sharing Laudato Si' comes to you from the St. Andrew the Apostle Care for Creation Ministry, Brooklyn, New York, affiliated with the Metro New York Catholic Climate Movement.

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Mint Pesto with Walnuts

This Mint Pesto is made with fresh mint, roasted walnuts, garlic and parmesan cheese blended together with olive oil. It takes ten minutes to make and all you need to do is stir it into a bowl of cooked pasta for an quick and easy supper.

I love traditional pesto made with basil. Once or twice each summer, I will buy a…

Shortly after lockdown started (too late) in March, I’ve found myself thinking of my Mum and wondering what sort of meals she would have been recommending that are easy, filling and possible to make big batches of. She was always so resourceful in my eyes and had her larder stocked up with pulses, grains, tinned veg, spices and herbs. I try to do some of the things she did - washing out tinned tomatoes with a splash of water just to get that bit more in the pot, freezing fresh herbs in various states, and blitzing day-old bread to make breadcrumbs for use in future meals.

Pretty much once a week since lockdown began, I have been making one of my childhood favourites: Tuna Tagliatelle. Kieran and I loved this as kids. The crispy bits from it baking in the oven, sizeable splotches of gooey mozzarella and buttery, tuna-flecked ribbons of tagliatelle (which was often the dried green and white variety from Sainsbury’s). Dan really enjoys it, which makes me happy - it really is comfort food to me, so I thought it would be nice to pass the recipe on to others. I hope you find as much comfort in it as I do. I’ve also included the pictures of the recipe card my Mum had written out. I’m pretty sure as an adult, I asked for it as my birthday meal once. I’ll try and remember to take a photo the next time I make this so you can see it in all its glory.

Baked Tagliatelle with Tuna, aka Tuna Tagliatelle

Serves 4 (or 2, very heartily). Not suitable for freezing. Many, delicious calories.

Ingredients:

225g tagliatelle

125g butter, cubed

125g fresh Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper, freshly ground

2-3 tbsp milk

2 x 184g tinned tuna (or salmon, but I’ve never tried it that way), drained

125g mozzarella cheese, chopped or torn into rough chunks

4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs (I use frozen ones that I’ve “made” just fine)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200 degrees C, 400 degrees F. No idea if this accounted for fan ovens, but I’ve been fine on 200 with my fan oven.

Make sure all the above ingredients are prepped so you can throw it all together. (“Duh”, you say)

1. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain, return to the pan and mix in half the butter and half the Parmesan, plenty of seasoning and the milk, then stir until well blended.

2. Butter an ovenproof dish and spoon in half of the mixed pasta. Spread around so it’s nicely distributed

3. Scatter the tuna/salmon and all of the mozzarella on top, then cover with the rest of the pasta

4. Dot on the last of the butter, then sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and the rest of the Parmesan. I tend to grind some more black pepper over.

5. Bake for 20 minutes, until the top is golden and crunchy.

A few comments from me:

I just serve it with some garden peas or petit pois. Very simple and elegant. Haha.

I’ve had times where we’ve not had any Parmesan (gasp!), so I’ve just used more frozen breadcrumbs and seasoned them really well, then added a bit of Marigold Nutritional Yeast for a more cheesy flavour (although unfortunately I think the “nutritional” part is lost during the baking due to the heat). It worked well for us.

At a pinch, I’ve used spreadable butter. You can also use slightly less proper butter, say 100g instead of 125g. But I suggest embracing this dish for all its buttery goodness.

Here are the photos. I’m guessing she wrote this in the 90s or maybe even 80s: