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Showing posts with the label Italian

Creamy Chicken Pasta/ Corn Pasta

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                                  PASTA.... We all love pasta, and most importantly Neil loves pasta. He smiles and jumps all around teh house saying " neil pasta khanash... chaan chaan aahe aai". It is the best feeling in th world to see Neil happy about eating food. Nowadays he has become very choosy about food. he needs variety and different tastes and textures. The best part about Neil is that he appreciates food if he likes it and also makes a sad face about the food he doesn't. but when my eyes grow big, he unhappily eats his food... My cute little bunny...                            And he loved this pasta dish which had his favorite Chicken in it. Nowadays I cook same meal for the entire family. So I made chicken version for me n Neil and veggie version with sweet...

Pesto Sauce

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             Whenever Italian pasta or pizza is served, the sauce commonly used in India is tomato sauce or white sauce. The green pesto sauce isn't a very common feature in average Indian restaurants yet. I first was introduced to this sauce in form of pizza sauce with feta cheese and almond slivers in Pizza Chicago in USA.. Oh! I absolutely loved that pizza. I have attempted to make pesto sauce here which can be used for pastas or as pizza sauce or as a spread for sandwiches....             Pesto is a sauce originating in Genoa in the Liguria region of northern and traditionally consists of crushed garlic, fresh basil, and pine nuts blended with olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan cheese), and Fiore Sardo (cheese made from sheep's milk).              In India it would be very difficult ...

Bruschetta with tomato & basil

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          Bruschetta is a fresh, simple, easy to make Italian appetizer which is made of toasted bread topped with tomato and basil. its ideal to make any time of the year.          Its a prefect choice when you have guests over for dinner.. Simple to make and is loved by both adults and kids..        Tomatoes should be sweet and firm. You can either use cherry tomatoes ans slice them in half or use large roma tomatoes and chop them into small pieces..               As you know by now, Neil has started to talk and has his own language which by no means will he change... there is this one argument which we have daily. I show him a tomato and say TOMATO.. he looks back and says very firmly POTATO... He goes on saying POTATO till I finally give up. But when I am not around, he wont call it POTATO... It reminds me of the HAMBURGER inc...

Foccacia with tomatoes & olives

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               Foccacia is an Italian dimpled flatbread (cousin of pizza) which can be topped with herbs and other ingredients. Its simple to make and makes a great alternative for garlic bread..                  It can be just served with olive oil. It could also be used to make sandwich or used a side dish. You could add any toppings you want. I added sweet cherry tomatoes with oil cured black olives and also added few jalapenos with spice..   You can use this basic recipe to make lots of different varieties of focaccia: leave it plain and just sprinkle with coarse sea salt, add  caramelized onions, cumin. Use your imagination!  Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp instant yeast 1 tsp sugar 2 tsp salt 1 1/2 warm water 2 tbsp olive oil 20 cherry tomatoes 10 pitted oil cured black olives 10 jalapenos slices 10 basil leaves...

Parmigiana di melanzane ( Baked aubergine, tomato and cheese gratin)

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Wanted to make something different with my eggplant. Usually I make “भारता ”. Recently I got gifted with a book on international cooking by Karen Anand. So decided to try this simple recipe, making changes to suit my needs. It turned out really well, so here it is... Ingredients: ½ eggplant 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt Cheese 1 tsp mixed herbs 1 tbsp bread crumbs Italian tomato sauce 1 cup tomato puree 3 tbsp chopped garlic 2 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp black pepper Pinch of oregano 2 basil leaves Method: Blanch, skin, chop & puree tomatoes. I just chopped & pureed tomatoes to form chunky tomato puree. Cook the puree in a pan ,till the puree becomes thick. It took about 5 min. Add sugar , salt, pepper, oregano & chopped basil Remove from the gas. Heat olive oil in small pan. Fry garlic till its golden brown.. I abs...

Pasta in creamy cheese sauce

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Neil wants to eat what we eat, so nowadays we all sit together for all meals. Yesterday I served him his favorite pasta in creamy sauce. He will pick each pasta with his fork, drop it on his bib, pick with his fingers and enjoy it. This pasta recipe is creamy with subtle flavoring of Italian herbs. I have used durum wheat semolina pasta which has high protein. i would love to use whole wheat when neil gets all his 20 teeth and he can chew his food properly.                                                                Ingredients ½ tbsp Olive Oil 2 tbsp crumbled paneer ½ cup pasta (durum wheat semolina pasta) 1 cup milk 1 cheese slice 1 tsp mixed italian herbs 1tsp pepper salt ( to taste)  Method: Boil ½ cup pasta with 2 cups water till the pasta is soft...