Mint Pasta | Lunch Box Series

So like i have written before, since pasta is simple to make and is packed with vegetables, good fat and flavors, it makes a weekly appearance in the lunch box. It is a one pot meal that i can never tire of. Each week it is a different shape and a different sauce.
This week, there was mint in the fridge, left over after making mint chutney. There was the spiralli pasta and some assorted vegetables.
Short of other ideas for the dabba, it was decided that the next day would be the "pasta day". I have never really put too much thought at the measures of ingredients that go into the pasta. It was a learning by trial and error and i continue to cook the same way. I tried to keep a track of what all goes in and in how much quantity in order to write out the recipe. Difficulty level is medium. Anybody who is quick with the knife and can taste and adjust flavors can make decent pasta! And trust me you, once you start making it by yourself, you would never shell out that crazy amount in the restaurants for a single serving of pasta!

Preparation Time: 20 Minutes
Cooking Time: 20 Minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups Pasta of your choice
Water to boil the pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 capsicum, finely chopped
5-6 baby corns, sliced into rounds
1 large carrot, cubed
Salt to taste
1 tbsp cream
1 tbsp cheese spread
1 tsp Pasta Seasoning/ Oregano

For the sauce:

3 large tomatoes
1/2 cup of mint leaves
5-6 pods of garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

Bring a pot with sufficient water to boil. Add a tsp of salt and a tsp of oil to it. Into the boiling water, add the pasta. Cover, and cook.
On the side, chop and microwave the vegetables that need cooking- the carrot and baby corn here with some water and salt for two mins.

While they are cooking, place the ingredients for the sauce in a mixer and grind well.

Stir the pasta in between and keep checking to see if done. It should be cooked al dente. Takes about 10-15 minutes depending on the brand. Check the instructions on the pack to get a better idea.
Strain it through a colander. Save about half cup of pasta water. Now run cold water on the colander.

In a pan, heat some olive oil and add the chopped capsicum. Fry. By then, the vegetables should be done in the microwave. Add the veggies to the capsicum and stir.

Now add the prepared sauce into the vegetables. Cover and cook for a minute or two. Add the cream and the cheese. I used the Britania Mexican Chilly spread here. While adding salt in any step, be mindful of the salt in the cheese. You can add more cheese if you want a richer, creamier pasta.
Stir in the pasta into it and gently toss, without breaking the pasta.
Add the pasta water to get some more sauce into the pasta. You could add some skimmed milk too. Toss well.
Top with some oregano or the seasoning that comes along with the pizzas, in case you have any.
Serve hot, or pack it for the dabba. I like it both hot and cold!

My take on Mac and Cheese

It has been a while since i have wanted to make Mac and Cheese. It tops a lot of people's comfort food list. When i googled the recipe, i found that it was heavy on white flour and cheese. So much cheese, butter and AP flour, i did not really want to use. So i did not try it out.
Yesterday, i felt like it should be pasta day and had only spaghetti at home . Did not really feel like eating it since only last week sometime, lunch was spaghetti. So off i went to buy something else. My eyes fell upon a packet of Bambino Macaroni. I remembered the first time i had cooked it and it had turned all soggy and broken and the end result was a mush. Never experimented with it after that.  I thought i should try it one more time and picked it up. And woah! it is cheap! Just 16 bucks for a 250 gm packet. It was while billing that i was reminded of Mac and Cheese again. So after some initial research and modifications to recipes found from foodgawker, i made Mac and Cheese the first time around. It's not the traditional recipe. It's made my style- light and simple. Here's how:

Preparation Time- 20 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Difficulty- Medium

Ingredients:

11/2  cups Macaroni , i used Bambino- half of the 250 gms packet.
Vegetables of your choice - 3/4 cup, i just used finely chopped carrots and capsicum
3-4 pods of garlic
1 tbsp AP Flour
1 tbsp cheese, I used the Brittania Mexican Pepper spread :)
1/2 cup Milk
Salt and chilli flakes to taste
1/2 tsp Oregano, optional
1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Boil 2 cups of water with some salt and oil. Add the macaroni to it and cook it according to the packet instructions. Bambino gets done in 6-7 minutes. I added my chopped carrots also to it to allow it to cook.
Drain the pasta. Save some of the pasta water.

Meanwhile, in a pan, heat olive oil. Add finely chopped garlic and capsicum. Toss it around until the garlic starts giving out its flavor.

Now simply add to this a table spoonful of flour. Whisk it around until it slightly changes color. At this point, add the milk. Whisk the mixture well without any lumps.
Now add to it a tablespoon of the cheese spread. Alternatively, you could use cheddar cheese and sprinle some extra on top of the macaroni too. But i chose to use what i had and use it frugally.
Turn off the heat.

Add some chilli flakes and oregano to this. Be careful while seasoning with salt since the macaroni was already boiled in salt water, there is salt in the cheese. Add in salt carefully. Mix in the boiled mac and vegetables.
Grease a baking pan with olive oil. Add the mixture into the dish.

Place it in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. I waited until the top started browning.

Alternatively, you could spoon out the mixture into individual ramekins or a muffin tray rather than a cake tin and then bake it. It will come out like a macaroni cup cake :). I just spooned out the macaroni from the baking dish and served it hot!

Notes:

It is crunchy on top, but soft on the inner layers, more like regular pasta.
You can add more of the white sauce to fill up all the gaps between the macaroni and bake slightly longer to get a more cohesive mac and cheese mixture out of the oven! Bon Appetit! 

Basil Pesto

I make pasta on a regular basis. One of the main reasons is that it takes very less time to toss a big bowl of pasta. Until now, i always made fresh pasta sauce each time i would cook pasta. Last week, I bought a whole big bag of basil and did not know what to do with it. That is when i set out to make and store Basil pesto. I did not have pine nuts at hand. I knew that the neighboring supermarket had it. But i certainly was not going to buy the pricey pine nuts just to make use of the basil that was going waste. I did not have to look far for replacement. I had peanuts at home! I set out to roasting them and getting rid of the peel. In less than half hour, i had my basil pesto ready, to make pasta a couple of times over!

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Yield                     : 100 gms of pesto sauce 

Ingredients 

Basil leaves             2 cups packed 

Peanuts                   a handful

Garlic                      3-4 pods

Olive Oil                  2 Tbsp

Salt and pepper       to taste                

That is it. 6 ingredients and you are good to go! 

Preparation:

Wash the basil well and dry it on a kitchen towel or paper napkin.

Dry roast the peanuts and remove the peel. 

Now in a mixer, add the remaining ingredients. 

Give it a whizz. Doesnt matter if a couple of things are coarse. I like to retain a little bit of a crunch while making it. That is all there is to the recipe :) Your lovely green pesto sauce is ready to be used! 

Mix it in with some cheese as you use it. Store in an air tight bottle and keep it in the fridge for upto a week. All you would need it to boil some pasta, saute some veggies in olive oil and seasoning, mix the sauce and cheese and toss everything together! I also secretly spike some of this in my salad for that kick! Just get innovative and maybe even use it as a spread for the sandwich. So many uses and so simple to make!