Friday again!

Friday seems to come around so quickly.  I was trying to seek a recipe that was quick and easy for tonight and during my search I found an easy recipe for Hummingbird Cake (which I love, but will not feed the family for dinner...) so kept searching and decided to still include the cake along with a lovely Spicy mince and pasta bake.  The mince uses 2 cans of peri-peri tomatoes with chilli & paprika.  If you or the family are not so into spicy you could tone it down with one tin of peri-peri tomatoes and one tin of plain tomatoes.  Mince is always a dish you can vary to suit tastes.  It must be the most versatile meat and is so easy to work with and adapt to family tastes.  I hope it works for you.  Enjoy and have a great weekend. Make the cake for a weekend treat.
Both recipes are from Taste.  This is an awesome site and covers several Australian food magazines - all on one site.  For more recipes go to:http://www.taste.com.au/
Spicy mince and pasta bake   -    Serves 4

• INGREDIENTS:
  1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 500g extra-lean beef mince
• 2 x 410g cans Ardmona Rich & Thick Peri Peri chopped tomatoes with paprika and chilli
• 250g dried macaroni pasta (see note)
• 300g fresh ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup grated tasty cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
  
  METHOD
  Preheat oven to 200°C. Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until tender.

1. Step 2
   Increase heat to medium-high. Add mince. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 10 minutes or until browned. Add tomatoes and stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes or until liquid reduced by a third. Remove from heat. Allow to cool.
2. Step 3
   Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, following packet directions.
3. Step 4
   Drain pasta and add to mince mixture. Stir to combine. Spoon into an 8-cup capacity  oven proof baking dish. Combine ricotta, milk and eggs in a bowl. Spoon over mince mixture. Top with tasty cheese and parmesan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Serve.

Hummingbird cake

• Ingredients
  250g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 270g brown sugar
• 440g can crushed pineapple, drained
• 50g desiccated coconut
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 250ml (1 cup) sunflower oil

Cream cheese icing

• 100g cream cheese
• 50g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g (1 1/2 cups) icing sugar mixture
• 1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts, to garnish (optional)
  
  1. Preheat oven to 170°C.
  2. Step 2
     Grease and line the base of a 23cm square cake pan. Sift flour and spices into a large bowl. Add sugar, pineapple, coconut, banana, walnuts, eggs and oil. Stir to combine.
  3. Step 3
     Spread into lined pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Place on a rack and set aside to cool.
  4. Step 4
     To make icing, place cheese, butter, vanilla and icing sugar in an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Spread on top of cooled cake. Garnish with walnuts, if desired.