Simple Tangy Italian pasta : Guest post by Aashish Sood

 

Guest post by Mr. Aashish Sood of Wandering Thoughts

 

 

Serves 4

 

Ingredients for pasta sauce

4-5 cloves garlic
3 Green chillies, finely chopped
50 grams Amul butter
1 teaspoon thyme
50 ml Del monte olive oil
100 gms finely diced green and yellow capsicum
250 gms finely chopped red onion
100 gms Del monte corn
100 gms Baby corn
100 gms diced mushrooms
200 ml tomato puree
1 can tomatoes
100 gms cream cheese
2 teaspoon Oregano
2 tablespoon Del monte Pasta sauce
Salt to taste

 

Ingredients for garlic bread

2 cloves of garlic, finely crushed
50 gms Amul butter
Bread

 

Ingredients for pasta

300 gms of Del monte pasta of your choice

 

Preparing the sauce

Pour olive oil in the pan. Add onion to the hot oil. After about 2 mins of cooking; add capsicum, green chillies and mushrooms to the onion. After 5 mins of cooking, add puree and canned tomatoes and break them roughly with ladle.

Add pasta sauce, thyme and tablespoon of oregano to the mix. Let it simmer for 10 mins. Once the mix is cooked; add cheese, corn and baby corn to the mixture. Add salt to taste

 

Preparing garlic bread

Add garlic paste to the butter. Slice the loaf diagonally. Coat the butter-garlic mix on two sides of loaf. Heat the loaf on the pan till golden brown.

 

Preparing the pasta

I prefer to use elbow macaroni. Though the recipe works equally well for all varieties be it penne, spaghetti, fusilli, fettuccini etc. No layered pasta though. Pasta takes approx. 15 mins on a boiling water to reach al-dente stage. You can judge when the pasta is done by taking out a piece and biting on it. If it feels firm and soft at the same time and doesn’t taste raw or floury when chewed, it is done.

Add boiled pasta to the simmering mixture and let it cook for about five minutes.

 

Serving

Place the pasta in the center of a bowl. Sprinkle oregano and place garlic bread on side.
Serve piping hot

 

Tips

Time the pasta so that it is taken off the stove just as the sauce is prepared so that you can strain it straight into the pot. Makes the infusion of flavors much more easierIf you have to keep the pasta strained for some time… make sure you cool it as soon as it is taken off the heat so that the pasta doesn’t get overcooked in its own heat. Add the cream cheese towards the end so that it provides a creamy smoothness to the pasta but
doesn’t get cooked too much.

Make sure the ingredients are not cooked too much or else they won’t stand out in the pasta. I personally don’t like olives. But if you don’t mind them, you can put some 6-7 pieces of coarsely chopped pitted Del Monte black olives when adding cheese to the mix

Cookbook review: Quick Fix Indian by Ruta Kahate

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

This book is the latest by Ruta Kahate who earlier wrote 5 Spices, 50 dishes. All of the recipes mentioned in the book are said to take just 30 minutes to get ready including the time involved for soaking and marinating. She introduces the concept of Quick fix Indian pantry that has ingredients which are used in Indian recipes. The Shortcut shelf segment has 8 recipes for recurring homemade items that can be refrigerated and helps in cooking faster.

 

Read more

Book review: 60 great recipes for your baby by Roma Sharma

 

 

Roma sharma has come up with this interesting e-book titled 60 great recipes for your baby. Most of the first time mothers have tons of queries relating to what food the kid needs to be given after the phase of breast feeding. This ebook would help them give the right kind of food and has also varieties that wouldnt make food boring for the kid.

The book has segments based on the age group of the kid.

Click here to read more about it

Mysore bonda

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose flour (maida)

1/2 cup beaten curd

Salt to taste

Finely chopped green chillies and coriander leaves

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp crushed pepper

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp cooking soda

Oil to fry

Mix all the ingredients except oil and cooking soda to get a thick batter. If required add more water as needed.

Heat oil on low flame and when its hot enough to fry, add the cooking soda and mix well. Make small balls of the batter and fry in medium flame till its golden brown all over. It is important to ensure medium flame as the bonda may get brown but stay uncooked if done on high flame.

Serve hot.