Creamy Lemon, Garlic Pasta

I am late by a day in posting this for my weekend cooking. This weekend was hectic. Even when I cooked, it was something quick, one pot meal that was nothing new. I love spring, summer (not so much heat) and fall but these also bring in more outside work. Yard work to be exact. This weekend was all about cleaning the landscaping beds, trimming the bushes, mulching. In another few weeks start the work of vegetable gardening. Do I love this extra work? yes especially when you see your hard work showing off in terms of beautiful flowers or shrubs or vegetables.
I made this pasta as a quick lunch and the surprising thing is my husband who hates the word pasta ate it saying it is very good. So, I am sure you would want to try it on 'not so much pasta lovers'. It is easy to make and pretty filling.

One Year Back -  Badam Milk / Sweetened almond drink
Two Years Back - Quinoa with Dill, Muffin Vs. Cupcake
Three Years Back - Penne with minty almond sauce
Ingredients:
Shell pasta - 2 cups (Or any medium sized pasta like bow tie or penne) See Notes
Spinach - 1 small bunch or frozen 2 cups (I used frozen chopped spinach 2 cups)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP
Garlic - 4 cloves minced or grated
Lemon zest - from 1 lemon
Lemon Juice - from half a lemon if juicy or use about 2 TBSP of juice (fresh only please, no bottled stuff)
Cream cheese - 4 Oz or half a block of the 8 Oz block (You can use half of this and add some cream instead)
Salt - to taste
Black Pepper - to taste (I crushed black pepper and used about 1 TBSP but I am Indian, remember that)
Water - for cooking the pasta

Method:
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt generously. When the water is heating up, in another pan, heat olive oil. Add minced garlic, lemon zest and black pepper to it followed by spinach. Sprinkle very less salt and let the spinach cook.
When the water is boiling, add the dry pasta and cook it till al-dente.
Add cream cheese to the spinach mixture when the spinach is almost cooked. Add the juice of the lemon and drain the pasta well and add it reserving about a cup of pasta water. Add the water as needed to loosen the sauce. Simmer for 3 - 4 minutes and adjust the salt if needed. Serve hot.

Notes:
This pasta has such a flavorful sauce that if the pasta shape is such that it can hold some sauce, it taste better. That was the reason for using shell instead of bow-tie as per my kid's request.
This post is written for weekend cooking post that I write with Srivalli  and  Vaishali, 

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Pasta with Sun dried tomato and almond pesto

I have been fortunate to have good neighbors. Those who aren't intruding but are there if you need and ask for help.  Yesterday, I started digging out the stump of a dead tree that I had cut last year. My plan was to dig enough to go underneath and slice off the chunk so that I can fill the hole with dirt and plant a flower plant. I was ambitious to make the hole as big as needed to plant a rose bush. After making enough room to get what I needed, I decided to borrow the power saw from my neighbor. But his tool was not for what I was looking to do and he wanted to come and see the stump to see if something else works. He helped me pull out the stump by cutting few side roots and it was very helpful. As a thank you gesture, I offered to make them pasta for lunch which I am sharing the recipe with you all.

One Year Back - 5 Minute pizza/pasta sauce
Two Years Back - Eggless Mulberry Cupcakes
Ingredients: 
Rotini or penne - 1 box of 13 Oz ( I used the whole grain rotini)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP
Sliced almonds - 3 TBSP
Red pepper flakes - 1 TBSP or to taste
Salt - to taste
Italian seasoning - 1 TBSP
Onion - 3 medium chopped

For the pesto:
Sun dried tomatoes undrained - 12 - 15
Black pepper - 1 TBSP crushed (or to taste)
Garlic - 4 - 5 cloves
Almond butter - 1/3 cup (Or dry roast 1/2 cup of whole almonds and use it with other ingredients)

Method:
Make the Pesto:
Pour 1 1/2 cups of boiling water on the sun dried tomatoes in a bowl. Let it stand for 20 minutes or so. Drain reserving all the water (it has herbs and olive oil). Take the softened sun dried tomatoes in a blender jar or food processor jar. Add either roasted almonds or the almond butter, crushed black pepper, garlic to it. Grind into a smooth paste adding the reserved water from soaking sun dried tomatoes as needed. Set aside.

Prepare for cooking the pasta by boiling a big pot of water which is salted generously. At the same time, heat olive oil in a pan. Add sliced almonds and when they are toasted, add chopped onions. Sprinkle a little bit of salt (go easy on salt here since pasta water has salt and so does the reserved liquid from soaking sun dried tomatoes). Add red chilli flakes, italian seasoning (rub them on your palm before adding) and mix well. When the onion has wilted, add the pesto and remaining reserved water to make the sauce.

Cook pasta as per the box instructions - about 9 - 10 minutes. Drain and add it to the simmering sauce reserving about a cup of pasta water. Add enough pasta water to loosen the whole mixture. Check for the seasonings and add if needed. Serve immediately. If serving later, save some pasta water and adjust the consistency just before serving.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Puttanesca Sauce

There are many varieties of pasta sauces that are not vegetarian. One such example is Puttanesca Sauce. Almost all the brands have anchovies in it. I love Olives in anything and if there is a sauce that is full of olives and capers, I surely am going to enjoy that one. This version of the sauce is not only vegan but can be made in less than 10 minutes if you have a food processor to chop onions, olives. Even without them, it is one fast and easy sauce and I cannot leave out the fact that it is very economical too.

For those of you who are regular visitors, I know you are wondering what happened to me. I am still here. Been so busy that I could not do what I did just for myself - that is blogging. It is something I do for myself, not for kids, not for the house, not for the husband or to make a living. You might not see me blogging as much as before, but I am here. Thanks to those who show concern when I go missing through emails. I really appreciate it.

One year back - Applesauce Breakfast Bread, Penne with Spicy Coriander Pesto
Two years back - Ricotta Cheese Doodh Peda
Ingredients:
28 Oz can crushed tomatoes - 1 can (I used the one with basil if using regular, add about 1/4 cup of fresh basil or 2 TBSP dried basil)
14.5 Oz can diced tomatoes - 1 can
6 Oz Whole Olives - 1 can or a generous 1 cup chopped olives (Kalamata is preferred but black olives will do just fine)
Capers - 3 TBSP crushed lightly
Chopped Red onion - 1/2 cup
Garlic - 6 pods chopped fine
Olive oil - 4 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Black pepper - crushed to taste

Method:
Heat olive oil in the pan. When it is warm, add garlic followed by onions. Mix and sprinkle a little salt. Let it wilt. When it is cooked, add diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes. Mix well. If you are using plain crushed tomatoes, chop basil to get about 4 TBSP and add it to the pot. Coarsely chop the olives and add them to the pot along with capers. Adjust the salt and add crushed black pepper. Bring it to a rolling boil and turn off the heat. This sauce is good enough for one pound of any pasta.

Enjoy.

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Caponata

Caponata is nothing but an italian side dish or cooked salad made with eggplants and capers. If you search for the recipe, you will get a lot of them with different variations. I looked up on foodnetwork website for this since I wanted to make it as a topper for the crostini. I did not use one recipe, but combined couple of them based on our taste preferences. We don't like celery and I omitted it. Among my visitors, there was someone who doesn't eat nuts, so omitted pine nuts. I however, increased the squash to compensate for not using celery. Overall, this recipe is based on Anne Burrel's Caponata recipe.

One year back - Coconut Chocolate Rolls/Buns
Two years back - Cake Decorating Basics - 1, Blondies from a Cake mix
Ingredients:
Eggplant - 1 large chopped into 1" cubes
Yellow squash or zucchini - 2 medium chopped into cubes (Or use part celery and just one squash)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Salt - to taste
Red Onion - 2 medium chopped or sliced
Diced tomatoes - 1 15 Oz can with juice (Or use about 4 plum tomatoes)
Red chilli flakes - to taste (I used 1 TBSP and it was spicy and perfect for us)
Sugar - 2 tsp
Red wine vinegar - 3 TBSP
Capers - 1/3 cup
Green Pitted olives - 1/3 - 1/2 cup sliced
Golden raisins - 1/4 cups
Mint - chopped about 3 TBSP (Or use parsley)
Toasted pine nuts - 1/4 cup (I omitted since I wanted to keep it nut free)

Method:
In a skillet, heat 1 TBSP olive oil. Add eggplant chunks and stir. Sprinkle some salt and cover and let it cook stirring occasionally to make sure they don't burn. Set aside. In the same skillet or another one, heat the remaining two TBSP of olive oil. When hot, add chopped onions to the pan. Sprinkle some salt, add the squash pieces and celery if using and mix. Let it all cook. When the onions are cooked and squash is soft, add the eggplants, tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar, and chilli flakes. Let them simmer till almost all the water has evaporated. Add golden raisins, capers, olives. Mix well and adjust the salt if necessary. Add mint and mix well. Close the lid and turn off the heat after 2 minutes. When it cools to room temperature, store in the refrigerator. This actually tastes better after sitting in the refrigerator for a day. Heat lightly before serving. I served it on crostini as an appetizer.

Wondering what bread it is? it is an italian bread for which, I will post the recipe soon. And if someone wants to drool over this, here is another picture for you.

Enjoy.

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Easy Marinara Sauce

I had family visiting for Labor day weekend. Most of the kids in the family have a list of 'to eat' when they come to my place. I don't make everything that is on the list, but try to make some to make them happy. And there is one thing that my husband likes to do for them - take them out to eat. And they usually like to go to a 'pizza place' and the topic of going out to eat came this time too. My mother-in-law doesn't eat in places where they serve meat, so the choice was brought down to me making pizza.

We had pizza one night and my father-in-law goes "Didn't you make breadsticks? They are so good." (he has eaten the breadsticks that I make before and loves them). I had to tell him that I would make it the next day and I made this sauce to go with it. It has been pouring here and I couldn't take pictures of it. Here it is with pasta that my kid is eating as I type here.

One year back - Blonde Brownies, Kidney Beans Curry
Adapted from - Allrecipes.
Ingredients:
Peeled whole tomatoes canned - One 28 Oz can  - (Roma tomatoes 9 - 10 blanched) - See Notes
Tomato Paste - One 6 Oz can
Basil - 2 TBSP fresh or 1 TBSP dried (I used fresh purple leaf basil)
Garlic - 1 clove minced
Dried oregano - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Black pepper powder - 1 tsp or to taste
Olive oil - 1/4 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup diced fine (I used a bit more than this - 3/4 cup)

Method:
Heat oil in a sauce pan. When hot, add onion, garlic and stir. Sprinkle some salt and let it wilt. In the meantime, take the remaining ingredients in a food processor and churn them to get a puree. It need not be very smooth, but as long as it is well blended, it is fine. When the onions are done, Add the tomato mixture to it and bring it to a boil. Check for salt and adjust if needed. Use as a dip for bread sticks or on pasta or on pizza.

Notes:
If you are using fresh tomatoes that are blanched, you will need some liquid. About 1/2 cup or so. Use tomato juice or even water. Since I was using the canned whole tomatoes in juice, I used that for the liquid part.

Enjoy.

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Swiss Chard Pasta with Indian Spices

This is what happens when you take the main ingredients from a different country and use the spices of your own country and make a dish out of it. Pasta need not be made in Italian style as a rule. I made it into an Indian dish and a darn good one I should say.
There is another big plus with this dish. Quick and easy to make, healthy and is perfect since you can dump whatever vegetables you want to use.

One Year Back - Pasta with Marinated Grilled Tofu
Ingredients:
Rotini - 2 cups (about half of the standard box. I used whole grain pasta)
Swiss Chard - 1 bunch stalk and leaves separated and chopped
Red Onions - 2 medium chopped into chunks
Green Squash - 2 small or 1 large chopped into chunks (optional - I peeled the squash. You can use as is)
Crushed tomatoes - 1 cup or puree 4 medium tomatoes in a blender
Garlic - 4 cloves minced or grated
Ginger - 1/2" piece peeled and grated
Ricotta cheese - 3/4 cup - 1 cup (Part skim)
Sour cream or yogurt - 1/4 cup - See Notes
Oil - 3 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste (Use cayane or paprika if you want milder heat)
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
Black Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method:
Bring a large pot of overly salted water to boil. Meanwhile, heat a pan with oil. When hot, add ginger and garlic and onions. Sprinkle very little salt and let it cook. When onions are half done, add the stalk part of the swiss chard followed by green squash pieces if using. Let them cook. When water comes to boil, add the pasta and stir. Let it cook till al dente. To the pan with veggies, add the spices, crushed tomatoes. Stir. Let them all cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Add the leaf part of the chopped swiss chard. Mix well. Add ricotta, sour cream or yogurt and mix well. By now, the pasta should be cooked. Drain the pasta reserving about 1/2 cup of pasta water. Add pasta to the veggie mixture. Toss to combine and loosen the whole sauce with the pasta water. Adjust the salt if needed. Serve warm. If you are planning to serve later, reserve some pasta water and add a bit of it and microwave before serving.
This was so flavorful for us and not too spicy that even my kids enjoyed eating it. I did not use too much of spices for that reason. Increase the red chilli powder if you are serving adults who are spicy food eaters.

Notes:
You can skip using ricotta and sourcream and use heavy cream instead. I like to use the ricotta since I can use fat free or part skim. If you are watching your calories, use milk about a cup instead. You can add your favorite veggies here.

Enjoy. Pin It

Orzo in Coconut and Lime Sauce

This is almost a pasta salad. But made differently I should say. For those who are wondering what Orzo is it is rice shaped pasta which cooks in 5 minutes or so. You could add any veggie that you like. You could add onions and tomatoes. If you saute it along with asparagus (make sure you add asparagus at the end), it gives you a different taste and if you add them raw, it will be another taste. I have used green chillies since we like heat. You could use crushed black pepper to taste if you like it milder.

One Year Back -  Pear Sweet and Sour Sauce
Ingredients:
Orzo - 1 1/2 cups
Asparagus - 1 bunch (hard part discarded and cut into 2" pieces)
Lima Beans - 1 cup (I used frozen)
Carrots - 3 medium peeled and sliced into rings
Green Chillies - 3 - 4 or to taste (Or use Crushed black pepper to taste)
Salt - to taste
Olive Oil - 2 TBSP
Juice of - 2 key limes or more per taste
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup

Method:
Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt it generously. Add lima beans and carrot slices. When they are almost done, add the pasta. This pasta cooks very quickly about 5 minutes or so. Meanwhile, heat a pan. Add oil. When hot, add slit green chillies if using. Toss the asparagus with a bit of salt. You could blanch and shock the asparagus to keep their green color. I didn't have time to do it. If you did not use green chillies, add crushed black pepper now. After a few minutes, they will be cooked but still have a bit of crunch left. By this time, the pasta should be al-dente. Drain and add the pasta and veggies to the asparagus. Add coconut milk and stir. Check for the salt and adjust it if required. Squeeze the juice from two key limes or one big lime. Stir and turn off the heat. Serve immediately. Left overs can be rewarmed and served.

Enjoy. Pin It

Penne with Spicy Coriander Pesto (Vegan)

Cuisine is regional, but methods of cooking are not. If you compare two different cuisines, you will see similarities in many dishes. The ingredients used of course will be locally available ones, but methods of preparation and the courses of meals have many similarities. It could be due to foreign influence, but not always.

Pesto is one such preparation that can be compared to our South Indian Chutney. Pesto has nuts and chutney has roasted dal /lentils. Pesto uses Italian herbs and chutney uses Cilantro or mint. The reason for adding olive oil to pesto is to make it shelf stable. If you are using pesto immediately, there is no harm in using water. We use tamarind in chutney as acid and pesto uses lemon juice as acid part of it. I made an Indian version of pesto and made pasta out of it. This is one of the pasta my relatives and friends enjoy very much.

One year back - Banana Oatmeal Bread
Ingredients:
Walnuts - 1/2 cup
Green chillies - 6 or to taste (This itself makes it pretty spicy)
Cilantro / Coriander leaves - 2 cups packed (about one big bunch)
Garlic - 3 pods
Olive oil - 4 TBSP
Black pepper - 1/2 TBSP (See Notes)
Lime juice - from 1/2 a lime or 1 TBSP (Could use lemon juice too)

Method:
In a skillet, toast the walnuts till nice smell comes out of them. About 4 - 5 minutes depending on the how high the heat is. Set aside. In a food processor or blender, combine all the ingredients excluding olive oil. Start the food processor while slowing drizzling the olive oil. Run it till you get a smooth paste. You are done making pesto. You could add salt, but I prefer to add it to the pasta when I cook since I use over salted pasta water to thin down the sauce.

Assembling the pasta:
Here is how I made pasta using this pesto. I used about 2 cups of penne. 2 carrots peeled and sliced, 1 cup of frozen green peas and 2 red onions cut into chunks. Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Salt generously. Add peas and carrots and let them cook for about 3 - 4 minutes. Now add the penne to the same pot and let them cook till al-dente. Meanwhile, heat 1 - 2 TBSP of olive oil. Saute onions. When onions are cooked, add the cooked pasta and vegetables to it, pesto and thin down using pasta water. Only after you add the pasta water, add salt if necessary. Let it all simmer for 3 - 4 minutes and then turn off the heat. This is best served immediately just like any other pasta, but will heat up beautifully. If you are planning to save some, add more of the pasta water to make it very saucy so that it doesn't dry up.  You can use your favorite vegetables and the quantity of them can be varied too.

Notes:
You could add black pepper to the pasta when you cook. In that case, omit black pepper while making pesto. Black pepper and green chillies hit the palate in different places. That is the reason for adding both.

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Arrabbiata Sauce

I am weird different. If everyone looks for an easy way to do something, I try to do everything by myself. That definitely keeps me busy. Take yesterday for example: I went to the dollar store near my work place during lunch time to get Halloween loot bags. They were out of them and I needed to send the bags this friday. I could've driven another 20 - 30 minutes to go to another store to check out if they had them. Did I do that? No. I decided to give my brain and my hands some work. I printed a ghost on the plain paper and made envelopes myself.

In fancy words, this is being 'creative'. In plain words, it is being 'crazy' I know. I made totally 40 envelopes. I did make my kids hand me over the stuff and this kept them busy. But, a normal person would've spent that time driving and getting the pre made stuff instead of spending 1 hour (almost) doing this by hand.

Same thing comes to buying pasta sauce. I do not like to buy them. I make them. Are they cost effective when you make them? I don't think so. I jar of organic Arrabbiata suace costs about 2.97 in Trader Joe's. I probably spent more than that for just tomatoes. But the taste - is awesome.

For those who do not know about this sauce, it is one of the spicy pasta sauces that are available. Because they have heat, they are very much liked by Asian Indians. Recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Tomatoes - 9 medium skin peeled off and chopped fine (about scant 2 pounds) Blanch them to remove the skin
Olive Oil - 1 tsp
Garlic - 4 pods minced or very finely chopped
Red Onions - 1 large chopped fine (You could use yellow onion)
Basil leaves - about 10 chopped fine
Red Chilli flakes - 1 TBSP (or to taste)
Black Pepper powder - 1/2 tsp
Red wine or cooking wine - 1/4 cup
Salt - to taste
Cayanne pepper - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 TBSP
Italian Seasonings - 1 tsp

Method:
In a sauce pan, heat olive oil. When hot, add garlic, onion. Sprinkle some salt and let them wilt for about 5 minutes. When they are cooked, add the chopped tomatoes. You could use 2 cans of diced tomatoes (14.5 Oz each). Add wine, sugar and let it simmer. Add chopped basil leaves and continue to cook till most of the water has evaporated. Add red chilli flakes, cayanne pepper, black pepper powder. Take italian seasoning in your hand and rub them and add to the pot. Mix all well and simmer for few minutes. Adjust the seasonings if required and turn off the heat. Use it in your favorite pasta recipe.

Notes:
If you eat cheese, you could add grated parmesan to the sauce or when you make the pasta. This tastes great as a bruschetta topping too.

Thanks to all readers who read what I write. It definitely means a lot to me. And a special thanks to those who send me emails about the content or leave a comment on my posts. Even though I do not post a reply to every comment unless there is a question, please be assured that I appreciate and admire the time taken.

Enjoy!! Pin It

Curried Pasta with Green Tomato Sauce (Vegan)

Remember how every blogger requests you to leave a comment about the content. There are a couple of reasons for that. One is to be motivated, to be assured that someone is reading what they write. Second one is to get more ideas as to what a reader wants. Sometimes, a comment triggers something which makes us create something totally new.

When I posted 'Green Tomato Vermicelli', I got several comments. One of them was from Susan. She said something in the lines of 'Never thought of making sauce with green tomatoes....'. That made my mind come up with this dish. It is totally like an Indian dish with lot of spices. You can skip them and use something mild of your choice. Do read the notes section. Thanks Susan for creating a trigger which inspired me to create this.

Ingredients:
Green tomatoes - 4 medium chopped into big chunks
Garlic - 2 pods
Peanuts (roasted) - 1/4 cup (Or any toasted nuts of your choice)
Curry Powder - 1 TBSP or more per taste (The one I used is not very strong in heat)
Cayanne powder - 2 tsp or more per taste
Red Chilli flakes - 1 TBSP or as per taste
Olive Oil - 3 - 4 TBSP
Salt - to taste
Chopped Cilantro - 4 TBSP
Medium sized Pasta like penne, fussilli - 3 cups dry (I used Fussilli - about 6 Oz in weight)
Green Onions - 6 (optional - I had to use them up)
Red Onions - 2 medium chopped into medium chunks

Method:
Grind green tomatoes, peanuts and garlic in a blender till pureed. Set aside. Heat oil in a pan. Place a pot of water to cook pasta at the same time. When oil is hot, add chopped onions, green onions. Sprinkle some salt and let them cook. When they are cooked, add the green tomato puree. Add curry powder, cayanne powder, red chilli flakes. Stir. Let them start reducing. When the water comes to a boil, add salt generously and add the pasta. Cook as per the box directions. When the pasta is cooked al-dente, drain the pasta reserving the pasta water. Add the pasta to the simmering sauce. Mix well. Add about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of pasta water to thin down the mixture. The key is to coat all the pasta with sauce. Adjust the seasonings. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot/warm.

Notes:
You could use heavy cream instead of pasta water to thin down the pasta. Curry powder is a mixture of spices like chilli powder, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, fennel seeds etc. It varies from one brand to another. You can make a mixture of your favorite spice powders and use instead. You could add any vegetable of your choice. If you don't have green tomatoes, you could make this dish using regular tomatoes itself. The taste will be a bit different since green tomatoes are tangier.

Enjoy!! Pin It

Penne with minty almond sauce

I should not watch food network. I mean it. Every time I watch something for the entire 30 minutes excluding cake decorating challenges, I end up making something using part of the idea that they show. I love cooking, it is not that I am complaining about. It is hard for me to get people to eat all the stuff I end up making. This dish is inspired by one of Giada's recipes but mainly uses ingredients that I needed to somehow use it. If you trust my recipes, you should definitely try it because, it is a winner.
I make a killer pasta with pesto with Indian flavor. But this one is much more healthier since it doesn't have all the olive oil that goes into making pesto.

Ingredients:

• Penne  or any medium sized pasta- about 3 cups dry (I had about 12 Oz left in the bag of 16 Oz pasta)
• Almonds - 2/3 cup (I used whole almonds)
• Mint - Chopped about 1  - 1 1/2 cups
• Cilantro - chopped about 1/2 - 3/4 cup
• Green chillies - 5 or more to taste (This wasn't spicy at all. Even my kids could eat)
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Olive oil - 4 TBSP divided use
• Salt - to taste
• Black pepper - to taste (I used more than 1 TBSP)
• Red Onion - 1 big cut into medium sized chunks
• Sun dried tomatoes - Drained and chopped about 1/2 cup
• Roasted red bell pepper - Drained and chopped about 1/2 cup
• Mint leaves - 5 or 6 for garnish
• Half and Half or milk or heavy cream - about 1 cup

Method:
In a skillet, dry roast almonds stirring constantly till you start to get some color. It doesn't have to be toasted really well. Set aside. In the same pan, add 2 TBSP of oil. When hot, add chopped onions. Add some salt and pepper powder. Mix and let it cook.
Bring a big pot of water to boil. Add salt. Put the pasta in and cook till al-dente. Make sure you plan it in such a way that the al-dente cooked pasta comes out of water into the pan with other vegetables. When onions are done, add the remaining vegetables. Meanwhile, place the toasted almonds, green chillies, garlic, chopped mint, cilantro, remaining 2 TBSP of olive oil into a blender/mixie and make a paste. You could add some of the half and half or milk to facilitate the blade. I used some water. Pour this sauce into the pan with other vegetables. Add the half and half or milk. Let it simmer and thicken. It happens quite fast. When it is simmering, drain the pasta reserving some of the pasta water (about a cup) and add the pasta to the pot. Mix well. If it is not creamy enough, add some of the reserved pasta water. Check for the taste and add salt and pepper if required. Add the reserved mint leaves and mix. Turn off the heat. Make sure you add enough liquid to make it creamy since pasta absorbs liquid as it cools.
Serve warm. Left overs can be refrigerated and reheated before serving. You could make the sauce and keep in the refrigerator ahead of time and just put them together very fast. I wouldn't keep the sauce for more than 3 days in the refrigerator though.

Note:
You don't have to use the roasted bell peppers and or sun dried tomatoes. You can use fresh vegetables of your choice. This is just an idea of how I made the sauce. You can add more green chillies to suit your palate.
Giada used penne with chicken pieces and green peas in it. She used basil leaves just as a garnish.  Her sauce didn't have any herbs and the liquid she used to make the sauce was chicken stock and heavy cream. She had about 2 cups of parmesan cheese going in for 1 lb of pasta. Just for an FYI.
I used what I did for a reason. One of my friends gave me some mint that was growing wild in her backyard. Another friend gave me a jar of sun dried tomatoes which she didn't know what to do with. Then, I had mistakenly bought a jar of roasted red bell peppers (I picked it up thinking it is sun dried tomatoes since they are next to each other). That's how this dish was conceived. You could use any fresh vegetables of your choice and availability. You could even change the herbs to your favorite ones. Plenty of variations can be made.

I would like to send this to 'Global Kadai - Pasta' event hosted here , which was started by 'Cilantro'.

Have a Good Long weekend!! Pin It

Pasta with Marinated Grilled Tofu

I had never ever dreamed of making a marinade in my life. Being a vegetarian, why would I ever need to marinate anything? I still watched those foodnetwork shows and didn't pay too much of attention except for the fact that I understood that a basic marinade needs some acid, oil, salt, pepper, sugar and seasonings of your choice. And to top this, I had bought a box of 6 pounds of Organic firm tofu which was sitting in the refrigerator unopened till yesterday. You probably think why on earth did she buy so much of tofu. Well, for one I had plans of making something new with it and the other reason being it cost me only 4.49, can you beat that price?

So, here goes my recipe and to be honest, I really liked the outcome. And the best part was, it was so filling for a long time after eating and full of protein. But I did have a challenge of making my husband like it too. His main complaint about pasta is it doesn't absorb the flavor very well compared to for example rice does and I don't blame him. When I saw the pasta 'Acini De Pepe' which are bead like, I had to try it. It almost looks like not so white sabudana/sago/tapioca pearls when cooked and since they are small, when you take a bite with other veggies and tofu, the flavor will come along. And that is exactly what happened.

 
Ingredients:


For the marinade:

• Red Wine vinegar - 6 TBSP
• Olive oil - 6 TBSP
• Salt - to taste I used about 3/4 tsp
• Cayanne powder - 1/2 tsp
• Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 2 pods crushed
• Dill - two sprigs chopped finely

For the Pasta:

• Firm Tofu - 1 1/2 pounds
• Acini De pepe pasta - 1 cup (You can use any small sized pasta like macaroni, pennette etc)
• Scallions - 2 bunches both green and white parts chopped
• Olive oil - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 2 pods crushed
• Dill - one medium size bunch chopped
• Salt - to taste
• Cayanne - 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp or to taste (I recommend using hot sauce instead to get extra kick if you like it spicier)

Method:

Drain tofu and place on couple of paper towels or on a clean kitchen towel. Cover with some more paper towels and place some weight on the top. Let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Slice the blocks horizontall so that you get blocks of tofu which are just 1/2 - 3/4" thick. In a bowl, whisk all the ingredients mentioned in the marinade except olive oil. Add oil at the end and whisk together. Place all the tofu blocks in a ziploc bag and pour the marinade into the bag. Let it sit for at least 3 hours or preferably over night in the refrigerator.

And look at those beautiful grill marks..

When you are ready to assemble the meal, cook pasta in enough salted water and drain. Reserve some of the pasta water. Keep aside. Grill the tofu on the grill or if you don't have one, you can do it on an iron skillet. I grilled on both the sides and then cut into cubes. I then poked them through skewer grilled sides facing each other so that other sides will get browned. I then placed the skewers on the grill and rotated at equal intervals so that all sides get browned. When they are ready, set aside.

In a pan, heat one tsp of oil and when hot, add garlic, scallions and saute till done. The beauty of marinading the tofu is you can use the leftover juice from marinading (unlike the marinade used to marinate meat which should be discarded). Pour the remaining marinade if any on to the skillet and let it evaporate. Add chopped dill and salt to taste and mix well. Add hot sauce if using or chilli flakes, cayanne and mix well. Mix in the pasta and the grilled tofu cubes and stir. If you feel pasta is too dry, add some reserved pasta water to make it right consistency. Serve hot or warm. Left overs can be reheated and served. It was a very nice one dish meal.

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Penne with Egglplant in spicy tomato sauce

If you have been following this blog, you must know by now that I don't like bland food. That could be the reason for not having too many pasta dishes on this blog. Plus, no one is very enthusiastic about pasta in our house. But, there is an exception. I have not yet posted that recipe here, but will soon. I make a penne pasta with pesto sauce that is unlike most of the pasta you can eat in any place. Coming to this recipe, I was watching food network and Rachael Ray was making seafood pasta with sherry tomato sauce. That made me think a bit and come up with this recipe..

Ingredients:

• Penne pasta - 2 cups
• Red Onions - 2 big chopped into medium chunks
• Egglplant - 1 medium size (I am talking about big fat purple one not the slim ones)
• Tomato paste or crushed tomatoes - 1 cup
• Salt - to taste
• Red chilli flakes - 1 tsp or to taste
• Cayanne pepper - 1 tsp
• Black pepper powder - 1/2 tsp or more to taste
• Olive oil - 4 TBSP divided use
• Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
• Dried Thyme - 1/2 tsp
• Red wine or dry sherry or cooking wine - 1/4 cup
• Garlic - 4 pods chopped finely

Method:
Wash and pat the eggplant dry. Slice them into 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick discs. Brush these with little olive oil. Heat a skillet and when hot add these eggplant slices oiled side down. Now brush the other side with olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper powder. Don't move the slices until they get a nice char. I usually use a grill to get this job done, but since not everyone has a grill, giving the method to do without one. If you do have a grill or a grill pan, go ahead and use it. Purpose of this is not to cook the eggplants completely, but to get a nice crust on them. Do this with all the eggplants and set aside.

In a wok or a sauce pan, Add 3 TBSP of olive oil. When hot, add garlic, onion. Add some salt and black pepper powder, cayanne pepper, red chilli flakes. Stir to combine and let it cook. Mean while, boil enough water for cooking the pasta. Salt the water generously and when it comes to boil, add the penne and cook til al-dente about 8 minutes. Drain.

Cut the eggplants into cubes. When the onions are cooked, add thyme, oregano and more cayanne if needed and add all of the eggplants. Since they are already cooked to certain extent, they will be done within minutes. Add tomato puree/paste/crushed tomatoes, red wine and let it simmer for a minute or two. Add the cooked penne and stir to combine. Adjust the seasonings and close the lid and let it be on low flame for 3 - 5 minutes. Serve hot/warm. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave and served. This made enough pasta for 4 servings. And my kids including the picky eater ate it happily.

Variation:
You could use any herb of your choice. I didn't have any fresh on hand so I went with dried herbs that I had. You can use hot sauce in the place of cayanne and that probably will give you spicier version.

Note:
Using red wine will not make this an alcoholic dish. Alcohol evaporates leaving just the flavor. In fact, unless someone tells you, you cannot even make out that there is wine in this.

I am sending this to 'Pasta Party' hosted by Jyoti of 'Panch Pakwan' along with my Butternut Squash Pasta.

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Butternut Squash Pasta

I don't know if I am patriotic or not. But, I am very faithful to Indian cuisine. I don't go to any other restaurants unless forced (at work usually) except Indian restaurants. In the past 11 years that I have lived in U.S, I have been to 'Olive Garden' only once and I didn't even like the food over there. I know many of you might be wondering what kind of person this is, but it is just me. I make pasta at home rarely. When I do, it is nothing like you can imagine an italian style pasta. I might use some of their spices, method, but I always make it spicy to suit our palettes.

One of my friends had given a book 'The Vegetarian Table - Italy' by Food and Wine Books. Author of this book is Julia Della Croce. I had misplaced that book for couple of years and I found it couple of days back. There was a side dish based on butternut squash, olives. I used that base to make pasta as a main course. I loved the final product. Here goes my take on this..

Ingredients:

• Medium sized pasta like penne, rotini, macaroni of your choice (I used whole wheat rotini) - 1 1/2 cups
  
• Tomato sauce - 1/3 cup
• Butternut squash - 1/2 of a medium sized skin and seeds removed and diced into 1 inch cubes.
• Red onion - 1 big diced into chunks
  
• Garlic - 2 pods crushed
• Olive oil - 3 TBSP
• Salt - to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper - to taste (I used about 1 TBSP)
• Cayenne pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste
• Olives - Drained and sliced about 1/3 cup
• Thyme - 1 tsp if fresh or 1/2 tsp dry (I used dry)

Method:
In a large skillet, heat olive oil. Add crushed garlic, stir for a 30 seconds. Add chopped onions. Some salt and cook till onions are done. Now add the diced butternut squash, stir. Add about 1/2 cup of water and cover and let it cook. Meanwhile, bring a big pot of water to which salt is added generously. Add the pasta and cook till al-dente (About 8- 10 minutes). Drain and reserve some pasta water (about 1/2 cup). When butternut squash is cooked, add olives, tomato sauce, pepper powder, cayenne powder, thyme and stir. Bring it to a slow simmer and add the cooked pasta. Add some pasta water to form a sauce with the vegetables. (Don't worry, it'll be absorbed by the time it is done) Adjust the seasonings and cover the lid and simmer for 2 - 3 minutes and turn off the heat. Serve hot or warm. Left overs can be warmed and served. This was a hearty meal by itself.

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