Basil Pesto And Zucchini Risotto

          We love Italian food at home, so I make pasta dishes once a week or so, other than pasta, risotto is also a favorite. I have made Mushroom and Baby Corn Risotto a couple of times, I wanted to try out a different one this time, so I made this Basil Pesto And Zucchini Risotto. It's an easy one pot dish, of course you have to have store bought or homemade basil pesto in hand. Serve this creamy and delicious risotto along with a some lentil soup and salad for a complete and delicious meal..

Need To Have

• Arborio Rice - 1 cup
• Zucchini - 1 medium, diced
• Onion - 1 medium, chopped
• Frozen Green Peas - 1/2 cup
• Basil Pesto - 3 to 4 tablespoons
• Parmesan Cheese - 2 tablespoons
• Salt And Pepper to taste

Method

          Heat some olive oil, add the chopped onion and saute till it turns pink, then add the zucchini pieces and saute for another minute.

          Wash and add the arborio rice and mix it for one more minute. Add 2 cups of water and a little salt, bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook.

          Keep checking, when the water is gone, add 1 cup and  cook, do this 3 times ( total 3 cups water ). When the rice is almost cooked, add the green peas and cook till the peas are done. Mix in 2 teaspoons of butter, switch off and add the cheese and pesto and black pepper to taste, remove and serve it warm, drizzled with some more pesto.

Note
Cook the rice to the desired softness, we like it slightly mushy and creamy.
Take care with the salt, since both the pesto and cheese has some salt in them.
You can add some garlic along with the onions, or you can add some garlic butter instead of regular butter.
Also, you can serve it with lemon wedges.

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Pasta With Sun Dried Tomatoes And Paneer ( Indian Cottage Cheese )

          My husband was having his dinner outside, with his colleagues, and it was just me and my daughter for dinner. I had decided on making pasta, but there was no cheese or pasta sauce at home, but still I had made up my mind on it. Going through the fridge, I found some paneer and sun dried tomatoes, so I decided to make something with it along with the pasta.  So I started off with boiling some water for the pasta and doing a simple sauce to serve with it, and decided to use some grated paneer in the place of cheese. Frankly speaking, I was not too sure about the final dish, but I still went ahead with it, and it turned out really good, except for the color. The sun dried tomatoes that I used were a dark reddish color, more like that of dried red chillies soaked in oil, so, when ground with some milk, the color was not that beautiful, but this depends on the color of the tomatoes. Also, I had used whole grain pasta, so the pasta color also was not very pretty but, otherwise, it is so simple to make and the paneer replaced the cheese very well too, try this if you like the taste of sun dried tomatoes..

Need To Have

• Pasta - 1 cup
• Sun Dried Tomatoes - 1/2 cup
• Boiled Milk - 1 cup
• Grated Paneer - 1/2 cup
• Chopped Mint Leaves - 1 to 2 tablespoons
• Salt And Pepper To Taste

Method

          Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the box and keep. Grind the sun dried tomatoes with the milk.

          Take the desired amount of tomato and milk mixture, add the pasta, salt and pepper and mix, if needed add some of the cooked pasta water. Finally add the grated paneer and mix. Garnish with the chopped mint leaves and serve warm.

Note
The sun dried tomatoes that I used were soaked in oil along with Italian spices. If the ones you have, don't have the spices, just add some Italian seasoning.
I had used the entire tomato and milk mixture, it's better if you added little by little.
You can replace the paneer with some grated parmesan.

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Fettuccine Bolognese

          Pasta Bolognese, I have never tasted this dish, because most of the restaurants serve only a non-vegetarian version of the bolognese sauce which is made with meat. And then one day, I watched this vegetarian version in a show, the sauce was made with soy granules and some Indian spices. Usually the sauce is served over spaghetti, but I had only some fettuccine with me and had all the other ingredients. I made it the same evening, but I used only Italian seasonings. It's really a simple dish, but at the same time very delicious and nutritious,and my family loved it too..

Need To Have

• Fettuccine Pasta - about 2 handfuls
• Soy Granules - 1/2 cup
• Onions - 2 chopped, finely
• Tomatoes - 1 cup, chopped
• Tomato Puree - 4 big tomatoes
• Garlic - 6 cloves, chopped
• Red Chilly Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dried Basil - 1/2 teaspoon
• Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
• Parmesan Cheese - as required (optional)

Method

          Boil some water, add the soy granules, switch off, cover and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes. Cook the pasta as per the directions on the pack.

          Heat some oil, add the chopped onions and garlic and saute till the onions turn transparent. Then add the chopped tomatoes, salt and chilly powder and saute the tomatoes turn mushy. Then add the tomato puree and keep cooking for another 5 to 7 minutes.

          Add the oregano and basil and mix well. Drain and squeeze the excess water from the soy granules and add it to the cooked tomato mixture, mix and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally add the pepper powder, mix and remove. Serve it warm over the cooked fettuccine, sprinkle some parmesan cheese and enjoy.

Note
You can leave out the parmesan cheese, if you want to keep the dish vegan.
Use ripe and juicy tomatoes.
At the end, if the sauce becomes too thick, add some water and boil once and remove.

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Vegetable Hakka Noodles

          This is my first noodles dish here, though I have made it a couple of times, I wanted to get it perfectly before I blogged about it. A very easy dish, if you get your noodles cooked perfectly, just follow the instructions on the noodles packet, you should be fine. With the vegetables and tofu added, this makes a complete meal..

Need To Have

• Ching's Vegetarian Noodles - 1 packet
• Cubed Tofu - 1 cup
• Carrot - 1/2 cup, sliced into thin strips
• Capsicum - 1 cup, sliced 
• Shredded Cabbage - 2 cups
• Onion - 1 small, sliced
• Spring Onions - 1 cup, chopped
• Garlic - 3 cloves
• Soy Sauce - 21/2 teaspoons
• Ching's Red Chilli Sauce - 31/2 teaspoons
• Black Pepper Powder - 1 teaspoon

Method

          Saute the cubed tofu in a little oil, till it turns golden brown.

          Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the packet, in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain, mix in some oil and separate the noodles and let it cool.

          Heat some oil, add the garlic, toast till it's golden, remove it. To the same oil, add the onion and spring onions ( saving a little of the green part for garnishing). Saute for 2 minutes, then add the carrots and capsicum, saute again for another 2 minutes. Then add the cabbage and keep sauteing for 2 more minutes.

          Now add the soy sauce, the red chilly sauce and salt, mix it , add the cooked noodles and tofu. Mix it gently, finally add the pepper powder, mix it well, garnish with the spring onions and serve it hot.

Note
Don't overcook the noodles, then it'll be a mushy dish.
Serve it with some soy sauce, chilly flakes and black pepper on the side, so that you can add them according to your level of spiciness.
Be a little generous with the oil.
Always make in small batches, it's easy to mix in the noodles and it comes out perfect.
Serves 2 to 3 people.

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Minty Creamy Vegan Pasta

          My daughter loves Italian food, I send her pasta for lunch at least once a week, but since I make it in the morning in a hurry, it's mostly pasta mixed with some pasta sauce and cheese. Only when I make pasta during the weekends, that I try out something different. Though I like cheese, I try to avoid it owing to the high fat, at the same time I try to bring the creaminess using other ingredients, this Minty Creamy Pasta is one such effort and it tasted really delicious. Since mint gives such a lovely flavor to pasta I  have added it, but guess what I have used for the sauce..

Need To Have

• Multi Grain Elbows - 11/4 cup
• Button Mushrooms - 3 cups, sliced
• Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped finely
• Ground Black Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Mint - 2 tablespoons
• Salt - to taste

For The Sauce

• Quaker Quick Cooking Oats - 2 tablespoons
• Cashews - 8
• Dry Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry Basil - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

          Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Grind together all the ingredients given for the sauce, adding a little water.

          Heat some olive oil, add the chopped garlic and saute till it starts turning golden and gives a nice smell. Now add the mushrooms and salt and keep sauteing on medium heat, till all the water released by the mushrooms dries up and they are cooked.

          Now add the ground paste and mix, add about 1/2 cup or more of the water used for cooking the pasta and the pepper powder. Keep mixing for about 2 or 3 minutes, if it dries up, add some more water.

          Then add the cooked pasta and mix well. Finally mix in the chopped mint and serve it warm.

Note
Don't overcook the pasta, otherwise the whole dish will be mushy.
Always the final dish should have a slightly thin sauce, otherwise, as it cools the pasta will become too thick and dry.
If you want more sauce and less pasta, increase the sauce ingredients.
You can also add some red chilly flakes if you like.

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Three Cheese Elbow Pasta

          My daughter's favorite restaurant is the Olive Gardens (back in US), and the dish that she orders almost every time we went there is the Five Cheese Ziti Pasta. Now we are in India and she misses the Italian food. This week she is getting her braces done, and one of the foods that she cannot have much after that is cheese, which she loves. So, for the past few days it has been all pasta and pizza. I made her this Three Cheese Elbow Pasta, named so, because I had used multi grain elbow pasta and the three variety of cheese that I had. It is a very easy dish, even kids can put it together, tasted very good, my daughter's verdict was, ' tastes close to the Five Cheese Pasta', well, what more can I ask for..

Need To Have

• Multi Grain Elbow Pasta - 1 + 1/2 cup
• Pasta Sauce - 5 to 6 tablespoon
• Grated Parmesan Cheese - 3 tablespoons
• Grated Cheddar Cheese - 3 tablespoons
• Mozarella Cheese - same amount as the above cheese
• Dried Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method

          Cook the pasta as per the instructions on the box. Drain, mix in the pasta sauce, microwave for 2 minutes. Remove, add the oregano powder, pepper, salt, the grated parmesan and cheddar, mix, add the mozarella slices on the top and microwave for another 2 minutes or till the cheese melts. Serve it warm.

Note
Once the pasta is cooked, you can do the last part- mixing in the cheese and microwaving in separate bowls and serve them.
The amount of cheese added depends on individual preference, I had added a little more of each cheese and microwaved it separately for my daughter.
You can use any kind of pasta.
I had used Kraft Parmesan, local Cheddar from Auroville and Amul Frozen Mozarella.

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Pasta Briyani

         Though I do pasta at least once a week for my daughter, it's mostly with pesto or the pasta sauce, this is the first time I tried something Indian with it. I used fusili pasta, made a briyani with it, lightly flavored with the garam masala, it tasted very good. It was a nice variation to the regular pasta, with all the vegetables in it, a filling one pot meal..

Need To Have

• Fusili Pasta - 3 cups
• Carrot - 1 medium chopped
• Red Capsicum - 1/2 chopped
• Green Capsicum - 1/2 chopped
• Fresh Or Frozen Green Peas - 1/4 cup
• Onion - 1 medium chopped
• Tomato - 1 chopped
• Garam Masala - 1/2 teaspoon
• Chopped Coriander Leaves - 1/4 cup

To Grind

• Garlic Cloves - 4
• Chopped Ginger - 1 tablespoon
• Cashews - 6
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Coriander Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method 

         Cook the pasta as per instructions with some salt and a teaspoon of oil, drain the water and keep and grind the ingredients given under to grind without adding any water. Heat some oil, add the onions, saute for 2 minutes, then add the ground mixture, saute for 2 more minutes.

         Now add both the capsicums and carrot, saute for a couple of minutes, then add the peas and tomatoes, mix for a minute, add half a cup of water, cover and cook till the vegetables are done. Then add the garam masala, mix and finally add the cooked pasta, mix for a few minutes on reduced heat. Lastly mix in the coriander, serve it warm.

Note
Cook the pasta al dente, can use even pasta shells.
It does not require any side dish, if needed can serve a raitha on the side.

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Vegan Creamy Pasta

          I love pasta with the alfredo sauce, but most of the time, avoid it because of the amount of calories and fat in the sauce. When thinking about an alternative, I came up with the idea of using mustard seeds and cashews in the place of butter and all purpose flour. I know many of you would make a face at the thought of using mustard seeds, even I had my doubts, but went ahead with the idea and believe me, it tasted really good, creamy and rich, finger lickin' good or should I say fork lickin'..

Need To Have

• Whole Grain Shells (Pasta) - 4 cups
• Red Pepper ( Capsicum) - 1 diced
• Mushrooms - 8 oz diced
• Zucchini - 1 diced
• Dry Basil - 3 teaspoons
• Red Chilli Flakes - 1 teaspoon
• Cashew Pieces - 2 tablespoons
• Yellow Mustard Seeds - 2 teaspoons
• Black Pepper - to taste

Method 
         Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box ( for about 10 mins). Make a paste with the cashews and the mustard seeds. Heat some olive oil, add the red pepper, mushroom and the zucchini, saute for a few minutes. The vegetables should be half cooked but not mushy. Now add the basil, red chilly flakes and the paste, saute for a few more mins till the raw smell of the mustard seeds goes ( for about 5 mins). Finally mix in the pasta and serve warm with a dash of black pepper.

Note
The vegetables and pasta should not be over cooked.
I don't know whether you can use the store bought mustard sauce, because it contains ingredients other than mustard, try it and let me know.

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Penne Pasta With Pesto And Lime

          Whenever I make pasta, either it is with some tomato sauce or pesto and tomatoes or the white sauce, nobody likes it dry. Even when I make it dry, it's like pasta with pesto, some vegetable, tomatoes and cheese. Last time, when I was in New York, I tasted the most delicious lasagna, with pesto and lemon or lime flavor. It was not much cheesy and I loved the refreshing citrus flavor. I wanted to try it at home, the lasagna has to wait, but I made it with penne pasta, my own home made basil pesto and broccoli, it came out very well..

Need To Have

• Whole Grain Penne Pasta - 2 cups
• Basil Pesto - 4 teaspoons
• Broccoli - 2 cups
• Parmesan Cheese - 2 teaspoon
• Salt & Pepper - to taste
• Olive Oil - 1 or 2 teaspoons
• Lime Juice - from 1/2 a lime

Method
          Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Microwave the broccoli till done but crisp. You can also do this by adding broccoli to boiling water for 2 mins, then washing in cold water. To the pasta, add the pesto, broccoli, mix, add the oil, cheese, lime juice, salt and pepper mix everything well and serve. The pasta tastes great either warm or cold.

Note
You can use any pasta of your choice.
Pepper and lime juice are as per your taste, best to serve it with a wedge of lime and pepper on the side.
You can use store bought pesto too, and also any other vegetable, I used broccoli as I wanted to maintain the green color of the pesto.

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Pasta with Kumato Tomatoes

          Ever since I read about these tomatoes in Priya's Now Serving, I had wanted to try them. Couple of weeks back when I saw them, I picked a whole pack of them.These tomatoes are a reddish brown in color and have a unique taste, not too sour and not too sweet. Well, I was thinking of ways to use it, of course not in the regular Indian way but where you can taste the tomatoes in the dish. I couldn't come up with anything, except for eating it raw, so I finally decided to use it in a pasta dish. It turned out to be really.. good, I had also added some roasted eggplants and asparagus to it. If you find these tomatoes at your grocer's, do give it a try, you will love it..

Need To Have

• Whole Grain Medium Shells Pasta - the full box (375g or approximately 5 cups)
• Kumato Tomatoes - 4 medium sized, chopped
• Asparagus - 1 + 1/2 cup chopped into 1" pieces
• Big Eggplant - 1/2 of it diced
• Chilli Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
• Dry Basil - 1 + 1/4 teaspoon
• Salt & Pepper - as per taste

Method
          Cook the pasta according to the instructions in the box. Mix the eggplant, asparagus, 1 teaspoon basil, salt and a dash of freshly ground pepper and spread in a oven proof dish and roast them for 20 mins at 400F, turning them in between. Once the pasta and the vegetables are done, you can put together the dish in a jiffy. Heat some olive oil, add the chopped tomatoes, saute till mushy, add the roasted vegetables and salt, mix, finally add the pasta and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon basil. Mix everything together, check for salt and pepper and serve it warm.

Sending it to Sara's Corner for the Women's Day Celebration event,
                to Shama's Easy2cook Recipes for Sara's Cooking With Love - Granddad Series event,
                to Vegetarian Food And Me for I'm The Star event,
                to Spicy Treats for the Show Me The Hits - Fiber Rich Foods event,
                to Sumee's Culinary Bites for the Bon Vivant event,
                 to Taste Of Pearl City for the Healthy Morsels - Pregnancy event,
                to Srav's Cooking Concepts for the Vegan Diet - Only Plant Based event and
                to Food Corner for the Midweek Fiesta event.

Note
Don't overcook the shells, you want the shells to be separate not sticking to each other.
Can drizzle some more olive oil in the end, before serving.

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