Chili Bean Pasta –

 

Ingredients :

Olive oil – 1 tb-spoon + 1 t-spoon

Onion – 1 large, finely chopped

Red bell pepper – 1, diced

Green chilies – chopped, as per taste (use the less spicy chilies)

Garlic – 3 cloves

Jalapeno pepper – 1 large, seeded and diced

Ground cumin – 1 1/4^th t-spoon

Freshly ground pepper – 1/4^th t-spoon

Crushed tomatoes in puree – 1 can, 16 ounces

kidney beans – 1/2 bowl, soak (you can use black beans instead if you have it in your pantry)

Tomato sauce – 1 bowl

Water – 2 tb-spoons

Fusilli pasta – 2 bowls

Cilantro/coriander – 1/4^th cup, finely chopped or 2 tb-spoons parsley

Procedure :

1. Soak beans overnight or atleast 6 hours. Cook them with little water in a pressure cooker.       

2. Bring a large covered pot of water to a boil over high heat.

3. Meanwhile warm the oil in a large deep skillet over high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, green chilies, garlic and jalapenos, and stir to coat with the oil. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, for 3-5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.Add the cumin and ground pepper, cook, stirring, for 30 seconds.

4. Add the crushed tomatoes, beans, tomato sauce and water to the vegetables and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the flavors are blended. Uncover, increase the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes longer.

5. While the sauce simmers, addd the pasta to the boiling water. Return to a boil and cook for 10-12 minutes or according to package directions until al dente. Drain in a colander and transfer to a warmed serving bowl.

6. Pour the sauce over the pasta, sprinkle with the cilantro or parsley and toss to mix well.

Pan Pizza Crust/ Deep pan pizza/thick pizza crust-

 

Ingredients:

Luke Warm Water – 1/3 cup

Rapid Rise Yeast – 1/2 tsp

Sugar – 1 tsp

Low Fat Milk or 1% milk – 1 Tbsp

All-purpose Flour (Maida) – 1 cup plus additional for rolling

Olive Oil – 4 tsp, divided

Butter – 1-2 tsp

Salt – as per your taste / around 1/2 tsp

Method:

1. Dissolve Yeast and Sugar into Warm Water. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes or until foamy.

2. Add Milk and Salt into the yeast mixture.

3. Pour yeast mixture into All-purpose flour a little at a time to form a soft dough. Knead for 3-4 minutes.

4. Pour 2 tsp Olive Oil onto dough and knead again for 4-5 minutes.

5. Lightly flour a rolling surface and roll out dough into a 10 inch disc.

6. Coat a 9 inch cake pan with 2 tsp Olive Oil and place rolled dough into it,

pressing down the sides.

7. Cover with wet kitchen towel and place the dough to rise in a warm place

for 1 hour (if its cool outside then warm oven to 150 F/65 C and turn off).

8. Preheat oven to 425F/218C

9. Bake the crust for 5-7 minutes until light golden.

10. Lightly butter the edges of the crust.

11. Top with your choice of pizza sauce, cheese and toppings

12. Bake at 425F/218C for 7-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Note:

1. I have used rapid rise yeast here. If you are using regular dry yeast, the process of kneading the dove should be done twice. Let the dove rise first and again you have to knead, remove all the air. Then let the dove rise in a greased baking tray.
2. Try to use fresh packet of yeast.
 

Pasta with creamy mushroom sauce -

Igredients -

Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tb-spoon

Onion – 1 large, chopped

Garlic cloves – 3-4, minced

Freshly ground black pepper - 1/4^th t-spoon

Wild mushrooms – ½ kg. coarsely chopped

cream -  1 cup

Cornflour – 1 t-spoon

penne pasta – 1 pound/ ½ kg. approximately

Freshly chopped rosemery – 1/4^th cup + rosemery sprigs for garnish

Parmesan cheese - 2 tb-spoon, coarsely grated

Salt to taste

Procedure -

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan over high heat. Add the onions and garlic, and sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, black pepper and sauté.

3. Stir in finely chopped mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the mushrooms begin to cook down into the sauce.

4. Mix cornflour with 3 spoons of cream. Add the paste to the sauce and stir continuously for a minute.

5. While the sauce simmers, add the pasta and some salt to the boiling water, return to a boil and cook for 9-11 minutes. Reserving 1/4^th cup of the cooking liquid, drain the pasta in a colander. Sprinkle few drops of olive oil on pasta so that they won’t stick together. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl turn of the heat and add cream into the cooked sauce. Simmer for a minutes.

6. Toss cooked pasta with the reserved cooking liquid.

7. Add chopped rosemery into the sauce and spoon the sauce over the pasta. Top with the Parmesan and garnish with rosemery sprigs.

Note :

Serve this pasta with mixed salad tossed with lemon juice and white-wine.

Fettuccine with Tomato-Basil sauce –

Igredients -

Extra virgin olive oil – 1 tb-spoon

Onion – 1 large, chopped

 Garlic cloves – 3-4, minced

Freshly ground black pepper - 1/4^th t-spoon

Crushed red pepper - 1/4^th t-spoon

ripe tomatoes – 2 pounds (0.9 kg. approximately), coarsely chopped

tomato paste - 3 tb-spoons

Fettuccine pasta – 1 pound/ ½ kg. approximately

Freshly chopped basil - 3/4^th cup + basil sprigs for garnish

Parmesan cheese - 2 tb-spoon, coarsely grated

Salt to taste

Procedure -

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan over high heat. Add the onions and garlic, and sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until tender. Add the salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes and sauté.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes begin to cook down into the sauce.

3. While the sauce simmers, add the pasta and some salt to the boiling water, return to a boil and cook for 9-11 minutes. Reserving 1/4^th cup of the cooking liquid, drain the pasta in a colander. Sprinkle few drops of olive oil on pasta so that they won’t stick together. Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl and toss with the reserved cooking liquid.

4. Add the chopped basil into the sauce and spoon the sauce over the pasta. Top with the Parmesan and garnish with the basil sprigs.

Note :

Serve this fettuccine with mixed salad tossed with lemon juice and garlic or a red-wine vinaigrette.