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Creamy Spinach Pasta with Macaroni – Blog Hop 6

12 Oct

If you have read my first few posts (Focaccia, Spaghetti & Eggless Tiramisu), you would know that Italian is a favorite with both of us & invariably we end up having it on all our special occasions.  This time again for V’s bday, we circumvented to making Italian at home – we started with no Italian this time, to Italian again this time. Such is the love, what can we say!

I chose Creamy Spinach Pasta from Vidhya of Vidhya’s Goodeats for the special dinner. She is my blog hop partner this Wednesday. She has some very interesting & good recipes from World Cuisine on her blog. It was tough to decide what to make. V is partial towards pasta so I chose that & spinach I’ve never used in pasta before so it was going to be a novel experience. I didn’t change the recipe much except omitting eggs & garlic & using dry basil in place of fresh ones. I halved the recipe & used macaroni as I’d a packet at home.

Spinach Macaroni Pasta

Spinach Macaroni Pasta

Creamy Spinach Pasta with Macaroni

Recipe Source – adapted from Vidhya of Vidhya’s Goodeats

Ingredients -

  • 1 packet (180 gms) – Macaroni Pasta
  • 1 Tbsps – Olive Oil
  • 1/4 Cup – Chopped Onion
  • 1/2 Bunch – Chopped Spinach
  • 1 small – Tomato, cubed
  • 1/2 Tbsp – Dried Basil (use fresh is available)
  • to taste – Salt
  • to taste – Pepper
  • 1/2 tsp – Chilli Flakes
  • 1/2 Cup – Cream (I used Amul – 25%)
  • 2 Tbsp – Freshly Grated Cheese

Method -

  1. Cook pasta as per instructions on your package or check here.
  2. Saute onions in olive oil till golden brown.
  3. Stir in spinach, tomato, basil, chilli flakes, salt & pepper. Cook for another 5-8 mins, stirring occasionally.
  4. Add cream & cheese. Allow the gravy to come to a boil.
  5. On low flame, add pasta. Mix well. Cook for 4-5 mins till uniformly heated.
  6. Serve hot with garlic toast.

Usually I make pasta in red sauce or white sauce, this is the first time I made using cream & spinach. It was a wonderful & fork licking dish. Pasta won hands down. Everyone loved the pasta & V also said that this is the best pasta I ever made. Thank you Vidhya for such a wonderful treat.

Sending Spinach Macaroni Pasta to Presto Pasta Nights, a weekly event hosted by Kirsten of Kirsten’s Kitchen to Yours. This event was initially started by Ruth of Once upon a Feast. I’ve been waiting for a chance to participate in this event as I love pasta & this was a great platform to come across awesome pastas. What a virtual treat!

Catch other Blog-Hoppers here to see what they have done for their blog hops. If you wish to join contact Radhika of Tickling Palates. Happy Hopping!!

Spaghetti in Arabiata Sauce – Super Red Hot!

8 May

As mentioned in Eggless Tiramisu post, my Anniversary Menu was Italian and this post is a continuation of that menu. Spaghetti in Arabiata sauce is both V & my favorite. We never give up a chance to hog on it.

Spaghetti in al'arabiatta Sauce

Spaghetti in al'arabiata Sauce

So when I chanced upon DK’s recipe in Chefinyou for Penne all’arabiata, I couldn’t resist trying her version. But again as I’ve mentioned in my introduction, I can not stick to a recipe to the T, so I made some changes in it. Instead of Penne, I used Macaroni & Spaghetti as I had left overs from both in my pantry and I wanted to use them up. I divided the sauce in 2 portions & made macaroni & spaghetti in Arabiata Sauce. I also skipped garlic & parsley.

The verdict, this rocks baby! - straight from horse’s mouth :)

Spaghetti in Arabiata Sauce – Recipe for Sauce inspired from DK

  • 1 cup – Macaroni
  • 150 gms – Spaghetti
  • 2 Tbsp – Olive Oil
  • 1 1/2- Medium Onion, finely chopped
  • 2 red chiles, seeded and sliced thinly (I used dried red chilli)
  • 10 ripe tomatoes,finely chopped
  • salt, pepper & dried oregano to garnish
  • few parmesan shavings
  • Water for boiling pasta
  • salt & oil for boiling pasta

Method – Cooking Pasta

Recipe Source: Basic Food Preparation (my college text book)

Boiled Spaghetti

Boiled Spaghetti

  1. Heat water in a pan (big vessel). The water should be enough to completely cover the pasta when dipped. Add 1 tsp salt to it.
  2. Add 1 tsp of olive oil to water to keep the pasts from sticking together.
  3. Once the water starts boiling, slowly add pasta, so that boiling doesn’t stop. (I boiled both macaroni & spaghetti separately).
  4. Boil & stir gently to keep the pieces from sticking to the pan & to each other.
  5. Cook to the ‘al dente’ stage or a little short of it if it is to be held. To test, press a piece against the side of the pan with a fork. It should need quite a firm pressure to break the pasta.
  6. Drain & rinse thoroughly with cold water until the rinsed water runs clear.
  7. Coat lightly with oil or butter to prevent sticking.
  8. To reheat pasta place in a strainer & submerge in hot water or saute in a little fat.

Method – Sauce

Sauce

Sauce


  1. Heat oil in a pan, fry the onions along with chillies. If you are using dry chillies, very lightly crush them & split them in the center as it allows the flavor to be released in the oil. I fry chillies first & quickly remove them once they start sputtering and keep aside using a small straining spoon as leaving them in the oil makes them black & unappealing.
  2. Once onions are fried, add tomatoes and just a pinch of sugar. Sugar is added to neutralize the acid in tomato. Heat on high flame.
  3. When tomatoes break down & start to ooze liquid, add whole chillies in them so they will release their flavor while cooking. Allow to cook on low flame for another 5-8 mins. Keep stirring in between if required. It should attain a saucy consistency. If thick, then add little of pasta water to get the right consistency.
  4. Once done, divide the sauce in 2 parts – to one part, add macroni, salt, pepper & oregano and to the 2nd part add spaghetti, salt, pepper & oregano.
  5. Garnish with parsley & parmesan. Serve hot with bread. I served with Stuffed Foccacia.
Macaroni in Arabiata Sauce

Macaroni in Arabiata Sauce

This super hot dish complimented our relationship and celebration. I would like to end the last dish made for anniversary with lyrics of Fairytale by Alexander Rybak-

Every day we started fighting, everyday we fell in love,
No one else could make me sadder, but no one else could lift me high above…

I Love You V!

Sundried Tomatoes, Pesto, Corn & Cheese Stuffed Focaccia – Yum Yum!

4 May

I love Focaccia, but never knew one day I would be making it at home. I can’t believe I’ve reached here in my endeavors to eat home made food. Not to mention, V is enjoying and putting on inches but loving every moment of my journey – from a below average cook of dal, roti to confusion cook who is willing to try new horizons.

Stuffed Focaccia

Stuffed Focaccia

Again Focaccia is from my anniversary menu – I’m traveling & didn’t want to disappear from the scene after one post on Eggless Tiramisu, hence I made my menu into scheduled drafts. I follow DK’s blog for international cuisines a lot as she really makes them simple & appealing at the same time. This one is again a crowd winner and in my case husband winner. As the adage goes – A way to a man’s heart is through his stomach ;)

When I started, it was going to be a simply baked focaccia as I had planned to make stuffed crust pizza for the dinner, however I didn’t get string cheese in all the (supposed) fine foods shop and had to scrap it. But by then I had already bought the mozzarella cheese and didn’t want to waste it. So decided on making Stuffed Cheese Focaccia instead. :) I quickly chopped cheese, chopped onion & boiled corn for the filling and I was ready.

Baking focaccia was the most chaotic of dishes I have ever done. I dissolved the yeast first and forgot to pit & chop olives. In this race against time (may be I am exaggerating) I managed to pit & chop before water got cold. It was only after I had put the dough in the sun for half an hour, that I realized I had forgotten to add sugar. :( I immediately googled and came across reviews that bread won’t brown, will be dense, dough will not rise etc etc. (sob, sob). Someone suggested adding it by dissolving in little water & leave it again for rising. and that’s what I did.

Ingredients for Stuffed Focaccia

Ingredients for Stuffed Focaccia

But I guess my Focaccia had decided not to be perfect. Even after rectifying my earlier mistakes, the dough didn’t rise. It was the first time I was using yeast, so I had no idea what to look for, so then again I hit panic button on google & found that in most such cases, yeast is already dead. I quickly did the yeast check (as advised on google) and my worst fear became a reality, the yeast was indeed DEAD! some more sob :(

I didn’t had the time or patience to buy new yeast and start afresh, so I decided to go ahead with it. Though the focaccia didn’t turn out as spongy as it should be. But the crust baked well & tasted fine. Obviously not the best! I guess I can get out of this one by telling myself (and everyone) that this is my first time. V consoled me by saying that this has become more like a thin crust pizza with stuffing. (ha ha) I guess I need to learn to see humor in this debacle.

For the focaccia dough, I skipped rosemary & substituted pesto & sun-dried tomatoes with sun-dried tomato pesto.

Assembling Stuffed Focaccia

Assembling Stuffed Focaccia

Focaccia – loosely adapted from DK & King Arthur Flour

  • 3 cups – All Purpose Flour
  • 1 tsp + 1 tsp – salt
  • pinch of sugar
  • 1/4 tsp – Ground Black Pepper
  • 2 tsp – Rapid Rise Dried Yeast
  • 11/4 cups – Lukewarm Water
  • 2/3 cup – Pitted Black Olives, chopped
  • 4 tbsp – Sun-dried Tomato Pesto
  • 1/4 cup – Boiled Corn
  • 1 – Chopped Onion
  • 1/2 cup – Chopped Mozzarella Cheese

Method -

Stuffed Focaccia - Ready to be Baked

Stuffed Focaccia - Ready to be Baked


  1. Sift the flour, salt & pepper in a bowl.
  2. Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water as per instructions on the pack.
  3. Add sugar to the flour. Now make a well in the center & add yeast water with olives & sun-dried tomato pesto.
  4. Mix it into a soft dough, adding little water if necessary.
  5. Transfer the dough onto a floured platform and knead well till elastic & smooth.
  6. Store it in a well oiled bowl & cover in a plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour or till it has risen in double the volume. The dough is ready when you can push a finger or two into it and not have it spring back.
  7. Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it again gently for a minute. Divide the dough into half.
  8. Round each half into loose ball and allow them to rest covered in a film for 10-15 mins.
  9. Pre-heat the oven at 425 F/220 C.
  10. Roll one ball into a 10-12″ circle and place on the greased baking pan.
  11. Now spread boiled corn, onion & cheese evenly on the circle, leaving 1 inch around the edges.
  12. Roll second ball into the same size circle & place atop the filling.
  13. Press the edges of the dough together firmly to seal the 2 circles.
  14. Oil the surface of the dough with olive oil using a pastry brush.
  15. Sprinkle salt on top.
  16. Bake for 20-25 mins or till done. Transfer to a wire rack.
  17. Cut into small loaves using pizza cutter & and serve warm.
Baked Focaccia - out of oven

Baked Focaccia - out of oven

I served with my Spaghetti in al’arabiata Sauce. Every cheesy bite reminded me of on-the-go snacks/ meals eaten at Cafe Coffee Day during my years in job. Loving it!

Stuffed Focaccia

Stuffed Focaccia

After the anniversary dinner, V refused to even budge from his place & went off to sleep by 8 pm, which is like a miracle. I guess a full stomach speaks all. :)

Stuffed Focaccia

Stuffed Focaccia

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