Pesto Rosso for Pasta

Pesto Rosso for Pasta

The month of December dawns with a lot of noise in my house. 

Why? 

Because the younger one celebrates her birthday and she starts goading me in action from the 15^th November. So generally even with my haphazard planning we have something organised for the great day. 

It’s hard to believe that 13 years ago we had a baby that fitted in the crook of my hand. The rate at which she is stretching upwards one day I will be in the crook of her arm and let me tell you I am tall.

So anyway the big day this year was a Saturday and I was not too well. I just made two sauces and boiled the pasta. I was skeptical about how it will taste but when my guests kept on returning for more of this sauce I knew I had hit a goldmine. This one is permanent feature in my home from now on and the best part is it can be used as a spread and dip also.

Pesto Rosso 

Pesto Rosso for Pasta

Recipe Source: Share my kitchen

Yield: about 3 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 tomatoes, peeled and deseeded
• 2 tomatoes, sundried
• ½ cup olive oil
• ½ cup almonds, blanched and peeled
• 1/3 cup olives
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 6 garlic cloves
• 6-8 basil leaves
• 2 Kashmiri chillies
• Salt

Method:

• In the mixer/blender drop the almonds use the pulse button twice.
• Then add all the ingredients in the mixer/blender and blend to get a paste.
• Serve on hot pasta like penne, tagliatelle, rigatoni.

Pasta and Sauces to with them

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Marinara Sauce for Pasta

Marinara Sauce for Pasta

According to Wikipedia, “Marinara (English: mariner's) sauce is an Italian tomato sauce that originated in Naples, usually made with tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and onions. Its many variations can include the addition of capers, olives and spices. It is occasionally sweetened with a dash of red wine.

This sauce is also widely used in Italian-American cuisine, which has diverged from its Old World origins.

Italians refer to marinara sauce only in association with other recipes. For instance, spaghetti alla marinara literally translates to "spaghetti mariner's style" (from the adjective marinara with the feminine suffix -a pertaining to salsa, Italian for sauce), but tomato sauce alone in Italy is called sugo/salsa al/di pomodoro or pummarola (the latter being Neapolitan language).

Several folk theories are given as to the origin of this sauce: One version is that cooks aboard Neapolitan ships invented marinara sauce in the mid-16th century after Spaniards introduced the tomato (a New World fruit) to Europe. The original recipe did not contain seafood, so it was resistant to spoilage due to the high acid content of tomatoes. This made it ideal for lengthy sea voyages hundreds of years before refrigeration methods were invented. Another theory states this was a sauce prepared by the wives of Neapolitan sailors upon their return from sea.

Historically, however, the first Italian cookbook to include tomato sauce, Lo Scalco alla Moderna (The Modern Steward), was written by Italian chef Antonio Latini and was published in two volumes in 1692 and 1694. Latini served as the Steward of the First Minister to the Spanish Viceroy of Naples. This early tomato sauce was more like a modern tomato salsa.”

So much for history but I did not for once think the sauce I made regularly was Marinara Sauce! Only when I was looking for the sauce for this BM and for Kiddo’s Birthday Party that I found out I was making this sauce regularly.

But let me confess this sauce has been made by my elder one! I was not well and we almost cancelled the little ones birthday party as I could not make anything. As the initial plan was to make pasta this sauce was something that Apeksha made for Akanksha. So all Apekshas have been met, no more Asha Akansha for me!! Before you wonder what I mean Apeksha is expectation and Akansha means desire, wish!!

Marinara Sauce

Recipe Source:  Here

Ingredients:

• 1 tblspn olive oil
• 1 onion 
• 1 ½ tsp garlic, minced
• ½  cup  red wine(I did not use)
• 12 tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and crushed 
• ½ tsp flat-leaf parsley, dried
• 1 ½  tsp salt
• ½  tsp kali mirch/ kali miri/ pepper corns,  freshly ground

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in a large kadhai/wok.
• Add the onion and sauté on low flame til translucent.
• Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the wine, (if using else jump to the next step) and cook on high heat, keep stirring and scraping till almost all the liquid evaporates.
• Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper.
• Cover, and simmer on low flame till sauce thickens.
• Serve hot with spaghetti or rigatoni pasta.

Come back tomorrow for another delicious sauce....

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!

 

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!

 

Pizza Sauce

Pizza Sauce

 My friends gift me cookbooks, nothing new in that you will say but this one was something I never expected. The fact that Mahesh in his busy schedule remembered me and brought this book makes it special though he says it’s a take away I am happy with it.

Pizza Sauce

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 tsp garlic, chopped
• 4-5 tomatoes, blanched, peeled and pureed
• 1 tsp basil leaves, shredded
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in a thick kadhai/wok.
• Add the garlic and tomato puree, basil and salt.
• Heat and simmer on low flame till the sauce thickens.
• Use as needed.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 45

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!

 

Kushari/Koshary/Kosheri/ Koshari~ Egyptian

Kushari, also koshary, kosheri or koshari

Have you as a child watched the 1956 make of the “The Ten Commandments?” 

My mother took me and my sister to watch this movie!!! And we were fascinated the visuals and the screenplay was something we had never witnessed before.

Cut to present my elder one was to participate in fancy dress and she was Cleopatra!!

We all love the pyramids … okay I passed on my fascination with Egypt to the kiddo and she to the younger one so the choice for E in the “Around the World in 30 Days” was natural “Egypt!”

Pungent Sauce

Pungent Sauce/ Chutney/Masala

For my daughter’s birthday had decided to serve Pasta with the usual tomato sauce and white sauce but knowing some of my friends I decided to serve a pungent sauce that I had accidentally stumbled upon.


 It so happened that I read about a coriander curry which called for lot of coriander, fried   red chillies(20 badgi)  and a lemon sized ball  tamarind.


 Being a big coriander fan I started it but half way through I realized that this was a flop recipe as far as family dear were concerned so I pulled the brake and considered my options.


Time – getting late need to get dressed to go to work.

Curry—not acceptable.
Throw away the mixture -no way. 


Then I remembered the Vietnamese Sate sauce and tried it out in my own way substituting the fish sauce with soya sauce.

1. So I crushed 20 cloves of garlic and put them to sizzle in about ½ cup oil.
2.  Meanwhile I ground up 5 onions in the mixer and added it to the whole lot. Stir fry till the oil comes out  then add the coriander curry and fry on the back burner stirring occasionally till the oil shimmers.
3. Then to cut down the pungent   I added more tamarind juice about 2 tblspn, 1 tblspn soya sauce  salt and   sugar.
4. Mixed well and added some chopped 4-5 green chillies  unfortunately these chillies were the local ones short dark green and in my hurry to clear all the clutter on the platform which was slowing me down I hit on the right recipe for a fiery sauce that I have no guts to replicate again.

Now when I make this sauce I use lesser chillies.

I make a batch of this sauce and freeze it. Then I cut into blocks about 1 inch square and use it occasionally when I am in hurry or when I am bored to cook.

The first time I made this sauce I used it on Stuffed Capsicum and it went well with the bland taste of the potato stuffing.

White Sauce

This recipe is copied from Tarla Dalal's 'The Joys of Vegetarian Cooking'. It makes 2 tea cups of white sauce.

2 tblspn butter

2 tblspn flour

2 teacups milk

Salt and pepper to taste.

Method

1. Melt the butter, add the flour and cook for 2 minutes without browning, stir throughout.
2. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk .mix well until blended.
3. Return to heat and cook slowly, stirring throughout until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Chocolate Sauce

As we had guests for dinner I had planned having some nice ice-cream for dinner. I made a deal with my elder kiddo to fetch it at around 8 pm just before our local grocer closed down. She could not get her favourite flavour – chocolate so she brought vanilla.

I was fuming at the thought of having to serve plain vanilla ice-cream with the rest of my beautifully planned dinner, when my Knight in Shining Armour, G suggested that I make the chocolate sauce.

Immediately I started hunting for my long lost recipe (making a mess of the decked up living which had to be hurried put in order, my order of course) and did my kids love it. The little that was leftover and put in the fridge was over before I woke up next day. Even now if I am home both ask me make the sauce for drinking (if what they do can be called drinking.)

To make chocolate sauce you will need

2 cups milk

4tblspns sugar

3 tblspn cocoa

1 ½ tblspn corn flour

Mix all the ingredients and cook on slow flame stirring continuously till the sauce becomes thick and is glossy.

SCHZWAN SAUCE

1 cup red chilli sauce
1 tea spoon garlic paste
1 tea spoon ginger paste
1 tablespoon spring onions(chopped)
1 tablespoon coriander leaves (chopped)
1 tea spoon sugar
1/2 tea spoon white pepper pd
1/4 tea spoon red colour
2 tablespoon hot oil

Mix all ingredients to make sauce.

Green Chutney for Chaat

1-2 green chillies
¼ cup pudina
4 cloves garlic
½ cup coriander
1/8 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
½ tsp amchur or ½ tsp lemon juice.

Grind all the ingredients to a fine paste with a little water.

Dates Chutney

10-12 dates
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp rock salt
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp jeera powder
1cloves garlic (optional)
Cook in the cooker all the ingredients. Cool the mixture. Grind in the blender. Strain, if needed add water to adjust the thickness of the paste.

Tamarind Chutney

½ cup tamarind
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp rock salt
1 ½ tsp coriander powder
¼ tsp jeera powder
1 cup jaggery chopped fine

Cook in the cooker all the ingredients except the jaggery. Cool the mixture. Grind with jaggery in the blender. Strain if needed add water to adjust the thickness of the paste.