Italian

Pasta in White Cream Sauce

As a cook, I love it when preferences vary from people to people. For example, how some people like their pasta in white sauce and some like theirs in red. And there are some who even like it green. Most of my work friends like their pasta in white sauce. When I served this simple white sauce pasta with minimal ingredients, they loved it so much that they immediately made a mental note of the recipe. This was not just because of the taste that they loved but also because I gave them such a simple and no hassle way of making white sauce for their pasta. 

Ingredients:

200 gms pasta penne

4 cups vegetable stock

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 cup fresh cream

1 tsp corn flour

2 tbsp garlic finely chopped

½ red pepper

½ yellow pepper

2-3 fresh red chilies

½ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp oregano

½ tsp basil

½ tsp parsley

½ tsp red chili flakes

2 tbsp grated cheddar cheese

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Boil pasta and set it aside.

2. In a pan, melt the butter and add olive oil before the butter starts burning.

2. Add garlic and chili flakes and sauté for about 2 minutes.

3. Now add the peppers and fresh red chilies and cook them for about 2-3 minutes. Do not overcook the peppers.

5. Add the vegetable stock and let it simmer till all flavours start rising.

6. Add the cream and mix it together with the stock and other ingredients and let it simmer for a few minutes. You will start getting a sauce like consistency.

7. Add cornflour and let the sauce thicken a bit. Add salt.

8. Add the pasta along with salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, parsley and grated cheese and let it simmer for a bit before you serve.
   

Spaghetti Bolognese

I think this could be one of my best recipes. This dish is a personal favorite. I have tried it at a lot of places. Bolognese is actually a beef thing. However, I wanted to use mutton as it is my favorite meat. This may not be an authentic Bolognese recipe but a variation that is delicious and above all very doable. The Bolognese sauce may be topped on spaghetti; however, I use this over penne, noodles or even as a spread over brown bread. However you eat this sauce, it is yummy.
  

Ingredients:
For the Bolognese sauce:

Onion, garlic and fresh parsley

½ kg mutton mince

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1 can of tinned tomatoes

4 tbsp tomato puree

4 large onions finely chopped

3-4 tbsp garlic finely chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp Tobasco sauce

Our dry ingredients

½ tsp honey

1 glass red wine

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp chilli paste/sauce

1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh garlic
Salt to taste    

For the Spaghetti:

200 gms spaghetti
1 tbsp butter

Method:

Bolognese sauce:

1.     In a large pan, heat olive oil and add the chopped onions. Fry the onions until translucent.

2.      Add mutton mince and keep stirring till the mutton becomes nice and crumbly. Add salt. You should get rid of the extra moisture before adding other ingredients.

3.     Now add all other ingredients starting with the he wine, Worcestershire sauce, Tobasco sauce, dry spices, canned tomatoes, garlic, chili sauce/paste, honey and mix well.

4.     Bring it to a simmer. When the mince looks half- done, add the pureed tomatoes.

5.     Before turning the flame off mix- in some roughly chopped parsley leaves. 

After adding mince to the onions

After adding all other ingredients

For the Spaghetti:

1.     Add spaghetti to boiling hot water. When cooked, drain all the hot water and sprinkle  some cold water so that the spaghetti doesn't stick.

2.     In a sizable pan, melt the butter and fry the spaghetti for a bit.

Now create magic by spreading the spaghetti over a plate, top it nicely with the sauce, grate some cheese over it and put some fresh parsley like crowning glory.         

Garlic and Prawn pasta

This one is delicious. The spaghetti is essentially flavored with lots of garlic and fresh parsley. This is very quick and requires very little ingredients. 

             
Ingredients:

200 gms spaghetti

100 gms small prawns (each prawn halved)                 

3-4 tbsp chopped garlic

2 tbsp parsley

3-4 fresh red chilies

1 tbsp chili flakes

1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper   

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

Method:

1.      Add the spaghetti to boiling water for a few minutes till it cooks. Do not over boil. Pour the spaghetti into a strainer and immediately sprinkle cold water and set it aside.

2.    In another pan, add butter and then add olive oil to prevent the butter from burning.

3.    Now add the chopped garlic and the prawns and mix them together. You can add little salt and let the prawns cook.  

4.    Add chili flakes and fresh red chilies.

5.    Add spaghetti to the mixture and stirring it well with the mixture.

6.   Stir in the roughly chopped parsley leaves along with pepper and serve.