Friday, February 25, 2011

Comforting Tortellini soup

Instead of making my own pasta or even think of making it, I quickly ran to the super market and got a packet of frozen tortellini. A quick soup with dash of all veggies in my fridge took care of the dinner time! I have never tried a soupy tortellini. I always saute it with veggies or eat it with arabiatta sauce. If you are tired and want to spend minimum time in your kitchen with less pressure on "after-cooking" clean up then it's a perfect one-pot recipe (should I say one-pan??)- very comforting with nice flavors and a healthy way to finish your day. Read on....



Ingredients-

1 big cup mixed assortment of veggies (I used mushrooms, beans, shallots, peas, carrots, zucchini)
1 bay leaf (how cannot I use this when I have a food blog titled Flavors??)
5-6 cups of Vegetable broth
1 onion (medium sized) chopped
salt according to taste
1/2 cup crushed canned tomatoes
Frozen tortellini (used spinach and ricotta filled tortellini)
1 tsp dried basil
fresh parsley for garnishing
black pepper to taste
Olive oil to cook
3-4 crushed garlic cloves (I can't cook without my star ingredient)

Preparation-

Heat olive oil in a pot/pan. Saute onions, garlic and other veggies over medium flame (for about 8 min). Add broth, bay leaf, basil, tomatoes and salt to the pot. Bring the soup to a boil over high flame. Mix the tortellini and cook on a low flame for 5-6 minutes. Allow it to simmer well before adding pepper. Toss in the parsley for garnishing. Enjoy!


Sunday, February 20, 2011

Breezy Sunday evening snack- Baked rosemary potatoes!

I recently discovered the herb Rosemary- Never had an opportunity to work with it much and when I did get an opportunity, I fell in love with this gorgeous herb! Rosemary is extremely high in Iron & Calcium- so all the more good reasons for me to get pally with this herb :)  Baby potatoes work great with rosemary and bring in the garlic and shallot twist to make an easy peasy snack!


Ingredients-

500 gms baby potatoes (unpeeled)
5 peeled shallots cut in slices or wedges
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
5-6 crushed garlic cloves
salt & pepper according to taste

How did I make it?

Preheat oven to 200 degree celsius. Throughly wash the baby potatoes and mix them with onions, olive oil, rosemary, vinegar and garlic. Toss well till the vegetables are well coated. Grease a baking pan and place the potatoes in the pan. Bake them for about 30 to 35 minutes till the potatoes are completely cooked. Once cooked, remove them from oven and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Serve hot with chilli sauce!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Vegetable Paella

Paella is a Valencian rice dish generally made with vegetables, meat and sea food. I never thought that it will be equally enjoyable with only vegetables (minus meat). Vegetable Paella is so full of flavors that you will simply forget the absence of meat and enjoy it equally. It is quite a simple dish to prepare and for a hardcore vegetarian like me- it's divine. This dish is a must try if you have only eaten meat based paella- Plus, it's a one pot meal and can be prepared in short notice without much fuss-


Ingredients-

1 large onion chopped
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups rice (paella/risotto rice)
4 medium tomatoes chopped
1 red bell pepper (cut in thin strips)
1 green bell pepper (cut in thin strips)
1 yellow bell pepper (cut in thin strips)
1 cup green peas
1 cup artichoke hearts (quartered)
1 lemon


How did I make it?

Heat olive oil and saute onion with garlic till the onions start changing color. Add the bell peppers, tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the paella/risotto rice and saute for about 5 minutes. In a separate pan, heat the broth till it starts to simmer. Add the simmering vegetable broth to the paella mixture and cook over medium flame for 15 minutes. Stir in the peas and artichokes before the liquid gets completely absorbed by the rice. Add some lemon juice. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes till the water is completely absorbed and the rice is cooked and tender. Serve hot!


Monday, February 14, 2011

Ravioli- Spinach, ricotta & more....

If there was one dish that I always wanted to create, it is ravioli- The spinach and ricotta cheese works its magic and creates a unique flavor. I always get a ready made packet and never tried it from scratch. Over the weekend, I got my lazy bones to work and created my very own spinach & ricotta filled ravioli. Do invest in a good pasta machine, if you want things simpler and easier- otherwise, you will literally be spending half a day making this (like me)-



What do we need- (for the base)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
pinch of salt

What do we need- (for the filling)

4-5 garlic cloves (crushed and chopped)
250 gms spinach leaves chopped
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
freshly ground black pepper


How did I make it?

Combine the flour, eggs and salt in a mixing bowl. Mix it to a fine dough (if need be add a bit of water). Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead well for 5 minutes, until smooth. Wrap in a clear film and leave to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

Filling preparation-
In a wok, saute garlic and add the chopped spinach leaves. Cook the spinach leaves till they have reduced in volume and tender. Once the spinach is cooked, place it in a bowl, blend in the ricotta and season with black pepper.

Final touch-

Divide the dough into 4 pieces and flatten slightly. With the help of a rolling pin, roll out each piece into thin sheets. Using a cookie cutter, stamp out small rounds. Top half the rounds with filling. Brush the edges with water and place another round of pasta on top of each. Press the edges firmly to seal. Cook in boiling salted water for 3-4 minutes. Drain well and toss with Arrabiata sauce (enough to liberally coat the pasta but not drown it)- Enjoyyyyyy!











Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Messy & tasty affair...My Zuchinni paranthas/Indian flat bread/roti!

Oh my, I have to blog about my messy kitchen- Yesterday, I tried my hand with something new and the dish was fantastic, came out really good- but the mess I created took double my cooking time. Before creating anything new, I worry about what kind of mess it will create in my cute lil' kitchen. LOL! I know, people worry about the process of creating a new dish and I worry about how long will it take me to clean. I have shades of Monica geller in me (remember the character from Friends serial???)- which means I have this compulsive disorder to clean up immediately or my mind simply preys on the mess. It is a simple parantha or stuffed Indian flat bread dish- trick is the stuffing - once you get it correct then life is simple. I have never tried out zucchini filling and yesterday was my first time. It is a watery veggie and you have to literally squeeze it dry and use it for filling- You grate the zucchini, mix it with salt, squeeze the water from it and mix it with spices for a sumptuous filling. Sounds fun eh? Trust me, it tastes wonderful in a parantha! Worth all my effort :)




Ingredients-

For filling-

1 zucchini (grated)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin powder (fry cumin seeds in a pan without oil and then grind it)
Powdered dry kasoori methi leaves (fenugreek leaves)
1 green chilli chopped finely
coriander leaves (about a handful) chopped finely
1 onion chopped finely

For the base

1 cup wheat flour
water to mix
1 tsp oil 
1/2 tsp salt

Preparation-

Knead the flour with salt & water to a smooth dough (add oil towards the end).  Set it aside. For the filling, grate zucchini and mix salt. With your hands make a ball and squeeze out the water from zucchini. It should be dry with no trace of water. Once the water is squeezed out put it in a dry mixing bowl and mix onions, green chillies, coriander leaves and rest of the spices mentioned above (cumin powder, fenugreek leaves). Toss it well and ensure it is a dry mixture and not soggy. Some people tend to saute zucchini with onions before mixing it with spices but I tend to use it raw. If you get the filling right, rest is easy. Take a small ball of dough and flatten it with a rolling pin. Add around 1 tbsp of filling in middle and fold it to a pouch (with filling in middle). Flatten this pouch on a lightly floured surface to a medium sized round shape. Fry it to golden brown on both sides and serve hot with mango chutney/pickle!






Tuesday, February 8, 2011

blueberry muffins..

Near my house, there is a small bakery shop around the corner. It is a family owned shop and they do some serious business. I love all their bakery items! There is always a mad rush and if you are late then you probably won't find your favorite items. I am super addicted to their blueberry muffins- Soft, moist and it simply melts in your mouth. Inspired by lindsey and her lovely blog, I baked my very fist batch of Blueberry muffins- Absolutely divine!



Blueberry muffins-
(adapted from Gingerbread Bagels)

Ingredients-
2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup unsalted butter (slight variation, she had baked it with oil and I switched to butter)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon zest (slight variation, original recipe calls for orange zest and I switched to lemon)
2 large eggs
1 cup yoghurt

Preparation-

In a bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, yoghurt, sugar, vanilla and melted butter. Add in the lemon zest and give it a quick whisk. Start mixing the flour to the yoghurt mixture and gently whisk. You have to slowly mix them and not overbeat the ingredients. Don't worry if you have lumps in the batter. Add the blueberries and gently blend them with the mixture (with the help of a spoon). Line a muffin tin with muffin liners. With the help of a spoon gently pour the batter in each liner. Bake it at 200 degree celsius for 20 to 25 minutes. Once baked allow it to cool and gently remove them from the muffin tray. Enjoy!


Saturday, February 5, 2011

Eggplant pizza

It's all in the dough- that's what I realised yesterday when making my pizza. The art of making a pizza completely depends on how well you get the dough. I worked hard on my base yesterday and made a good one! Toppings are just a matter of choice and I chose eggplant. If you search the web for pizza, you will have millions of search results and zillions of websites all trying to teach you the art of perfect pizza making. My blog post is another drop in that ocean- If you are new to pizza making and have never tried it from the scratch then you are in the right place.....



For the base-

2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp Italian herbs (optional)
Olive oil
1 tsp dry yeast
warm water
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

For the toppings-

1 eggplant chopped
3 cloves of garlic- crushed and chopped
1 medium sized onion chopped
crushed pepper (optional)
green chillies (2) chopped
standard pizza sauce (you can get it from the store or make it yourself)
Mozzarella cheese shredded (3/4 cup)

Dough preparation- 

Allow your yeast to awaken by mixing it in a small cup of warm water and sugar. Wait for five minutes and allow the yeast to froth up. In a mixing bowl add flour, salt, Italian herbs and mix well. Make a well in middle and pour the yeast mixture. Slowly start mixing yeast water with the flour. Add a bit of warm water and knead your dough till it is soft and elastic. Add around 1 tbsp olive oil towards the end and give the dough one final kneading. Store the dough in a fresh bowl and cover it with damp cloth. Allow it to raise for an hour.

Toppings- Saute garlic and green chillies in olive oil for a couple of seconds before adding onions. As the onions begin to turn brown in color, add eggplant. Toss in the pepper and adjust salt according to taste. Cook till the eggplant becomes soft and tender.



Final preparation-

After an hour or so, when the dough has doubled in size simply punch out the air from it and gently knead it on a floured surface. Flatten the dough to a square shape and fold the edges. Drizzle a bit of olive oil on the base before adding the pizza sauce. Spread the pizza sauce, eggplant topping and mozzarella cheese on the base. Bake it for 15 to 20 minutes @ 220 degree celsius.
















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