A pasta dish again :P so soon... Yessss Pasta mania.. That is what I am caught with. Came across a recipe for white sauce in facebook video. It looked simply attractive with all the colorful bell peppers and olives. As the saying goes "You first eat with your eyes". This seemed to be one such recipe when I saw through the video. Though it tasted good, I felt contented only after eating one piece of dosa for the finishing touch. I wonder how kids find the pasta dishes so engaging !!!
Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 35 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Pasta Recipes/Easy breakfast
Ingredients:
1. Bowtie Pasta - 100 gms (any variety of pasta)
2. Coloured bell peppers - (Green, red, yellow/orange)
3. Olive oil - 2 tbsp
4. Butter - 2 tbsp
5. Flour - 1/2 tbsp
6. Milk - 100 to 150 ml
7. Salt - as required
8. Nutmeg - 2 tsp
9. Parmesan Cheese - 1 tbsp
10. Olives, herbs and basil - for garnishing (optional)
Method:
1. Cook pasta as per the instructions in the package.
2. Heat a pan and add a spoon of butter. After it melts, add a spoon of flour and mix well.
3. After the flour and butter combine well, add warm milk and keep mixing without any formation of lumps. Add some salt and nutmeg.
4. In another pan, add some olive oil and saute the capsicum till it is almost cooked. Transfer the capsicum to the white sauce and mix well.
5. Add grated parmesan cheese. Mix well for a few seconds and then switch off the flame.
Suggestions:
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves, olives and oregano or other herbs.
- Any variety of pasta can be used.
- Nutmeg can be omitted if not available. Instead mixed herbs can be added for the flavour.
Pasta is a universal kids favorite recipe. Its been a long time since I tried pasta recipes after broccoli pasta. Every time I pass by the pasta aisle in Walmart, I will be so tempted to buy them.
When Mani's friends came to visit golu last year, they had so thoughtfully bought two saplings as I like gardening - one was mint and the other was basil. You may be wondering why I suddenly jumped into an irrelevant story !! Yes, there is a reason :P I could not save the basil plant from the snowstorm. I felt guilty and bought some basil seeds during spring this year. Planted them and they are growing so beautifully. I do not know much to do with the basil in cooking and at the same time I haven't tried many pasta recipes. So connecting both, I wanted to try many pasta dishes before the basil plant wilts :P
So here I come with a recipe of spaghetti pasta decorated with basil leaves!! (grown at home... hee hee..)
Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 30 mins || Serves: 2 || Category: Pasta dishes/Kids recipes
Ingredients:
1. Spaghetti pasta - 150gm (or any kind of pasta)
2. Tomato - 3
3. Olive oil - 1 tbsp
4. Onion - 1
5. Oregano - 3 tsp (or mixed herbs)
6. Basil leaves - a handful
7. Salt - as required
8. Tomato sauce - 2 tsbp
9. Parmesan cheese - 1 tbsp (grated)
Method:
1. Slit tomatoes and blanch them in boiling water for 5 mins. Once the skin peels off, switch off the flame and drain the water. Run through cold tap water for a min and then peel off the skin from the tomatoes.
2. Cool them and grind to a puree without adding water. In the same pan used for blanching tomatoes, add the spaghetti with required amount of water. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil and cook for 8-10 mins.
3. Cook with intermediate stirring till the pasta becomes soft and absorbs all the water. Transfer the cooked pasta to a plate.
4. In the pan add some olive oil and throw in the onions, oregano and saute for 2 mins. Then add basil leaves and cook till the onions are translucent.
5. Add the chopped tomato and cook till it becomes mushy.
6. Add the tomato puree and mix well. Allow it to cook for 3-4 mins. Then add the cooked pasta, salt and stir well.
7. Add a spoon of tomato sauce and mix well. Cook till the tomato puree has been absorbed by the pasta. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of oregano.
Suggestions:
- Regular canola oil or vegetable oil can be used in the place of olive oil.
- If available, ready made tomato puree can be used.
- I have used spaghetti pasta here. It can be substituted with any other pasta variety like bowtie, fettucine etc
- Mixed herbs can be used to give more flavor.
I had this one pot pasta recipe sitting in my drafts for a longtime. Came across this one in a random post in FB. It looked so inviting to try, as the ingredients were so simple and most importantly, this being a single pot meal :P meaning less dishes to clean !!! The cherry tomatoes and the basil look so lovely in that video. Haven't tasted basil until I tried this one. Loved the unique flavor brought in by the addition of basil. So, one more recipe has got added to my list of easy breakfast items !!!
Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Serves: 1 || Category: International/Breakfast Recipe
Ingredients:
1. Pasta - 50-75 gm (of any variety)
2. Basil leaves - handful
3. Onion - 1 small
4. Cherry tomatoes - 4 to 6
5. Oregano - 2 tsp
6. Pepper powder - 2 tsp
7. Olive oil - 1 tbsp
8. Salt - as required
Method:
1. Wash the basil, cherry tomatoes and onion. Chop onion finely. In a pan, add basil leaves, tomatoes, onion, pasta, oregano, pepper powder and some olive oil. Add required amount of water and switch on the flame. Cook covered for 15-20 mins. Check for doneness and add required amount of salt and stir well.
Suggestions:
- Basil/Chives/Parsley/Spinach or any green can be used.
- Chilli flakes can be added to enhance the hotness.
- Adding grated cheese on top of the cooked pasted while serving is optional.
