Pasta Salad

Pasta Salad

Making a salad is a simple job but lazy me hardly makes salads.

Salads are appreciated at my place so I should make them.

For the most noisy birthday, yes it’s my younger ones birthday I am talking about, noisy because she keeps on going on and on that it’s her birthday and she wants this and that. Keeps on changing her mind about this that becomes that in an instant, and makes me mad!

Anyway we made this pasta and thinking not all my friends like pasta and the sauces that go with it I made this salad.

To say that the Pesto Rosso and this salad was a hit will not be an understatement. The least expected dishes became the empty ones much to my embarrassment.

Pasta Salad

Recipe Source: Foodnetwork

Ingredients:

• Salt
• 4 cups shell shaped pasta 
•  ½ cup cauliflower, cut into small florets
• ¼ cup carrots, juliennes
• ¼ cup mushroom, sliced fine 
• ½   cup mayonnaise
• ½   cup buttermilk
• 1 tblspn garlic, chopped
• 1 tblspn parsley
• 1 lime Juice 
• 1 tsp pepper, freshly ground
• 1 cup processed cheese, shredded
• 1 small head romaine lettuce, sliced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 tblspn spring onion greens, chopped

 Method: 

• In a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
• Meanwhile in a thick bottomed   kadhai/wok add the mushrooms and the cauliflower cover and cook on low flame for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• Whisk the mayonnaise, buttermilk, garlic, parsley, half of the lime juice,   salt, and pepper to taste. Reserve about 3-4 tblspn aside.
• Toss all the   ingredients in a large bowl pasta with the rest of the dressing.
• Drizzle some of the remaining dressing on top and sprinkle with the spring onion.
• Cover and refrigerate the salad and dressing separately up to 6 hours.
• Before serving serve slightly chilled.

Recipe courtesy Food Network Magazine



Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/7-layer-pasta-salad-recipe.html?oc=linkback

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Mac n Cheese

Mac n Cheese

The girls were thrilled when I choose “Say cheese “as my theme.

Mac n Cheese has been on the demand list for ages and so I had promised the girls. Now in my rush of jobs I forgot the “say cheese” is a kid friendly theme and did not remember my promise. When I realised it I made this Mac n Cheese with processed cheese and cheddar.

The girls are not too happy with the resulting Mac n Cheese but there are in-roads in it. I have kept the original recipe as it is for I feel it will taste better and plan to make it for them when I go to Chennai this month!

Mac n Cheese

Recipe Source:  here 

Ingredients:

• 500 grms macaroni
• Salt to taste
• 1 tblspn oil
• 4 cups white sauce
•  4 cups/340 grms gruyere, grated 
• 2 cups/227 grms cheddar, grated 
• ½   tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 340 grms/6 med. tomatoes
• 2 tblspn/28 grms unsalted butter, divided
• 1 ½ cups bread crumbs

Mac n Cheese

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 190°C or 375° F.
• Add the oil into a large pot of boiling salted water.
• Add the macaroni and cook al dente. Drain and set aside.
• In the hot white sauce add the gruyere, cheddar, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper.
• Add the cooked macaroni and stir well.
• Pour into a 8 inch baking dish.
• Slice the tomatoes and arrange on top of the macaroni.
• Melt the butter mix well with the fresh bread crumbs and sprinkle on the top.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

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Linking to PJ's event "Say Cheese" for Srivalli's Kid’s delight.

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

 

Arrabbiata Sauce for Pasta

Arrabbiata Sauce for Pasta

Pasta in any form is enjoyed and devoured without complaints by the girls and their father but they have their individual preferences.

Like the younger one will prefer a mixture of white sauce and Arrabbiata or Marinara sauce the older one will worship white sauce but like I said “No Complaints” with the meal!

Many a times if I have to go out they will make their own version of sauces. So it was not much of a surprise when little one (not so little anymore) choose Pasta for her birthday party!

One of her requests was Arrabbiata! So what is Arrabbiata sauce?

According to the Wikipedia,” Arrabbiata sauce, or sugo all'arrabbiata in Italian, is a spicy sauce for pasta made from garlic, tomatoes, and red chilli peppers cooked in olive oil.

"Arrabbiata" literally means "angry" in Italian, and the name of the sauce is due to the heat of the chilli peppers. Parmigiano-Reggiano or parmesan cheese is not necessary to make this sauce. But then there are variations a few include onions to be fried with the garlic and tomatoes.

Due to the small number of ingredients needed in order to make this sauce, it is quite inexpensive. Though most commonly used for penne pasta, arrabbiata can be used for other food like meats, poultry, seafood, bread and food similar to pizza.”

So let’s make this delicious sauce which taste good with penne, spaghetti, rigatoni to name a few.

Arrabbiata Sauce

 Ingredients:

Arrabbiata Sauce for Pasta

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic paste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tblspn basil chopped
• 2 tsp chilli flakes, crushed
• 2 tblspn tomato paste
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp sage
• ½ tsp thyme
• A pinch of rosemary
• 1 tsp kali mirch/ pepper corns, powdered
• 3 cups tomato puree
• 2 tblspn flat parsley, chopped (optional)
• 1 cup water

Method:

• Heat oil in a large kadhai/wok over medium heat.
• Sauté onion and garlic in oil for 5 minutes.
• Stir in water, sugar, basil, red pepper, tomato paste, oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary, black pepper and tomatoes.
• When it starts boiling lower the flame and simmer uncovered about 15 minutes.
• Stir in parsley if using.
• Ladle over the hot cooked pasta of your choice.

Check out the next sauce I will post tomorrow....

Sauces for Pasta

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#48

Hi! First time here? Well then you are Most Welcome! I hope you keep coming back for more here. If you are my regular visitor then Thanks, for you encourage me to experiment more!! I would like you to please click on my link below and like my Facebook Page. I will be happy if you can follow me on on Twitter too!

 

The Let’s Get stuffed Event ~~Pasta Stuffed in Capsicum

   

I write this post with mixed feelings.

Elated as I have achieved the 100 followers mark. Starting from an anonymous blogger achieving this peak would not be possible had it not been for you my friends. A Big thanks to all of you!!

The fact that I have hardly received any entries for my event the Lets Get Stuffed Event is a big disappointment. Well that’s life!

Here is one of my experiments that was not much of a success. What I did was made pasta in tomato sauce stuffed it in the capsicum.

My husband poor lamb ate it but my kids told me that I better stick to pasta in white sauce only. So that’s that. Personally I love all my creations so this was good but not good enough.  I am open to suggestions on this.

 Ingredients:

 ¼ cup oil

½ tsp hing/asafoetida

1 cup chopped basil

2 tsp dried oregano

6 cups tomato puree  

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

1 tsp sugar

2 tblspn tomato ketchup

250 grms of any pasta you like I used fettuccine

250 grms paneer or tofu, cubed

8 capsicums

Olive oil+ 1 tsp

Method:

1.     To make the tomato puree, wash and cut a small cross at the stalk of the tomato.

2.     Drop the tomato in hot water for about 10-15 minutes. Then peel and discard the skin grind the rest of the tomato. Set aside.

3.     Heat the oil add hing/asafoetida add the basil leaves and oregano fry for about ½ a minute.

4.     Add the tomato puree, stir and bring to a boil.

5.     Add the rest of the ingredients and reduce heat.

6.     Simmer till the mixture thickens.

7.     Next boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet. 

8.     Cool under running water and then toss in olive oil.  Keep aside.

9.     Cut the capsicum and clean the insides.

10.  In 1 tsp of olive oil add salt and the oregano. Apply to the capsicum inside. Let this rest till your sauce is ready.

11.  Once the sauce is ready reserve 1 cup full add the paneer to the rest of the sauce  & pasta and mix well.

12.     Stuff the pasta in the capsicum and grill on in the griller with both the grills on for 15-20 minutes till the paneer is grilled. I need 18 minutes.

1      13.   Before serving top the capsicum with the reserved sauce.

Sending this to my event the The Lets Get Stuffed Event started by Vatsala of Show and Tell!!

Spaghetti and Vegetable Balls

Spaghetti 

My daughters picked up a packet of spaghetti the other day from the local supermarket and have been pestering me to make spaghetti and meatballs, mock meat of course!

Where on earth, or should I say in Panaji, will I find mock meat?

So I Googled for recipes for Spaghetti and Meat balls unfortunately every recipe I landed on call for ground beef (guess I used wrong key words :-) ), any way they were just grinning through all my efforts finally asked me do we have to tell you? Just invent? 

For the sauce as I already had some lasagne sauce & hence ½ kg tomatoes was too much for me. I suppose ¼ kg would be enough. Also the spaghetti should be boiled in a bigger vessel.

Ingredients:

For the Veg. meat balls:

4 boiled potatoes

200 grms paneer

Salt

2 tsp chilli powder

½ tsp dried oregano powder

¾ cup rolled oats

1 cup bread crumbs

Oil for frying

For the sauce:

4 cloves garlic, minced

10-12 stalks of coriander (no leaves as I have run out of coriander), minced

2oilve oil

½ tsp oregano

1 onion, chopped fine

½ kg Tomato (As I had about 1½ cups of sauce I had made for lasagne lying in my freezer I dumped it too in the sauce)

2 tblspn tomato ketchup

1 tsp chilli sauce

½ tsp Soya sauce

Sugar (optional)

Method:

For the Veg. meat balls:

The veg balls being shallow fried

1.       Grate the boiled potatoes, paneer and mix all the ingredients to form soft dough.

2.       Make small marble sized balls and fry them, reddish. The choice is yours either deep fry them or shallow fry them like I did.

3.       Keep aside.

For the sauce:

Tomato sauce just before it staterd bubbling

1.       Make a cross on the tomato near its stalk. Heat enough water in a pan and dump the tomatoes for about ½ hour.

2.       The skin peels easily after this, puree the skinned tomato in the mixer. Keep aside.

3.       In a pan add the garlic and coriander stalks with the oil and brown the garlic.

4.       Add the oregano, stir and add the onions fry till soft and translucent. Add the pureed tomato at this point I added the lasagne sauce too.

5.       Bring to a boil adding the ketchup, Soya and chilli sauces, sugar salt.

6.       Adjust the amount of sauce and the seasoning.

7.       Just before serving thicken the sauce using corn flour in water.

For the Spaghetti

1.          In boiling water toss the spaghetti till it is cooked.

2.          Drain and cool using running water. 

3.         Toss a little oil over the spaghetti to prevent sticking.

To serve:

1.          Arrange the balls on in a deep dish and pour the thickened sauce. . (You have to cook the meat balls in the sauce in the actual recipe but since my meatless balls are already cooked and appear to be fragile I followed this way as we do for koftas).

2.        Ladle the spaghetti on the plate and the balls and sauce.

  

Pasta

I had read this recipe for pasta  here  at Priya's site it looked delicious and I was dying to try.

So when it was my younger daughter's ninth birthday I decide to make it!

 The next logical step would be to just list out the ingredients, buy them and make the pasta, simple, as my logical hubby dear told me! The catch was that I had left everything to the last minute and panicked. I could not find the recipe!!  I had not bookmarked it or copied it or e- mailed it and the recipe base that his lady has is amazing…  So I did the next best thing I am very good at you guessed it I went on improvising as I went by.

Ingredients

For The Pasta:

500 g Boccoli 55 Pasta (I mistook it for elbow pasta it turned out to be a squiggly pipe)

5 tblspn Oil

2 tblspn Garlic, crushed

7-8 large onions, chopped fine

250 grams paneer/cottage cheese, cubed

2 cups bite sized cauliflower florets

100 grms of baby corn cut in small pieces

20 olives  

2 red capsicum deseeded and chopped

1 green capsicum deseeded and chopped

2 cups cabbage cut into fine long strips

Salt

Method:

1.       In a large vessel boil about 8 litres of water with 2 tblspn of salt and oil.

2.       In the boiling water add the pasta and boil till the pasta is cooked or you can cut the pasta with the slotted spoon easily.

3.       Drain the pasta and cool immediately. Apply oil to the pasta and keep aside.

4.       Heat oil in a kadhai and the garlic and fry till golden brown.

5.       Add the chopped onion and fry on medium heat till translucent.

6.       Add panner stir on high flame; add the cauliflower the cauliflower florets stir for about 3-4 minutes next add the baby corn. Put out the flame.

7.       Add salt mix now add the olives, chopped red and green capsicum and cabbage.

8.       Add the pasta mix well.

9.       Serve with tomato sauce, white sauce or pungent sauce.