Indian style Pasta in spicy tomato sauce

Most favourite dish for kids & for my DH too.  Good way of adding vegetables & most comfort dish to satisfy everyone with tasty dinner.  Flavour of capsicum & tomatoes may this dish taste great.  If needed sprinkle some parmesan cheese or serve just like that.  We like to have this little different with potato chips.  

Ingredients :

1. Vegetables (Carrot, beans & capsicum) - 1/2 cup
2. Pasta (Any kind) - 1 cup
3. Olive oil - 1 tsp + 1 tsp
4. Salt to taste
5. Cinnamon stick - 1 no
6. Cloves - 2 nos
7. Onion - 1 no
8. Green chillies - 1 no
9. Tomato - 1 no
10. Chilly powder - 1 tsp
11. Lime juice - 1 tsp
12. Corriander leaves

Direction to cook :

1.   Boil the water & add salt, a tsp of oil and pasta.  Cook till done.  Filter the water & keep aside.

2.   Meanwhile, heat oil in the pan.  Add cinnamon stick & cloves.  Add sliced onions & saute.

3.   Add finely chopped tomatoes & green chillies.  Add chilly powder & vegetables.  Cover & cook till done.

4.    Once the vegetables are cooked, add the pasta & adjust the salt.

5.   Finally, squeeze the lime juice & garnish with corriander leaves.

Serve with parmesan cheese.

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Veggie carbonara

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Italian dishes is my hubby's favourite cuisine. Pasta dishes are the most popular menu among the all. Veggie carbonara is supposed to be the most tasty variety especially for those who love creamy flavour. I am not the great fan for this dish as it is rich in calorie. Addition of zucchini with garlic flavour enhances the taste.

Ingredients :

1. Olive oil -2 tbsp
2. Garlic cloves (Finely chopped) - 2 nos
3. 2 Zucchini, thinly sliced
4. 5 Scallions, cut into lengthwise
5. 12 oz dried penne
6. 4 egg yolks
7. Sour cream - 3 tbsp
8. Parmesan cheese - 1/2 cup & for garnishing
9. Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions to cook :

# Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium heat, add garlic, zucchini & scallions. Stir for 4 to 5 mins until the zucchini is tender. Set aside.

# Cook the pasta in the salted boiling water according to the package instructions.

# Meanwhile, crack the egg yolks in the bowl and season with salt and pepper. Keep aside.

# Just before the pasta is ready, return the pan with the zucchini mixture to the heat. Stir in the sour cream and bring it to boil.

# Drain the pasta thoroughly, return it to the pan and immediately stir in the egg mixture, parmesan, and the creamy zucchini mixture. Stir vigorously and serve immediately with a sprinkling of grated parmesan.

Serve immediately.

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Lemon & chili shrimp spaghetti

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Simple & tasty Italian spaghetti with shrimp & lemon is our dinner menu yesterday. Taste of shrimp with lemon & scallions will make this dish unique.

Ingredients :

1. 12 oz dried spaghetti
2. Butter - 1 tbsp
3. Olive oil -1 tbsp
4. Garlic clove (Finely chopped) - 1
5. 2 Scallions, thinly sliced
6. 2 fresh red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
7. 14 oz large raw shrimps
8. Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
9. Cilantro leaves (finely chopped) - 2 tbsp
10. Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions to cook :

# Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to the package instructions until done.

# Meanwhile, melt the butter with the oil in a large skillet over a medium heat, add the garlic, scallions and chillies . Cook & stir for 2-3 mins.

# Increase the heat to high, add the shrimp and cook, stirring for 3-4 mins, or until they turn pink and are just cooked through.

# Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro, then remove from the heat.

# Drain the pasta throughly and add to the shrimp mixture. Season well with salt and peeper and toss.

Serve immediately.

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Spaghetti with oil, garlic & red chili

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My hubby is a great lover for pasta dishes. Recently, he gifted me a book on 200 pasta dishes. It's totally Italian. And this is the first dish I tried & it was a great hit. When I read the recipe, I imagined how it will taste only with the 3 ingredients. Surprising, it taste awesome with the flavour of garlic, chili & scrambled egg . Eggs can be substituted with the parley or with your favourite seasonings. Comfort & easy dinner for the busy day.

Ingredients :

1. 1/2 pound pasta
2. Garlic pods - 2 nos (Finely chopped)
3. Olive oil - 1/2 cup
4. Dried red chillies - 2 small (seeded & chopped)
5. Egg - 2 nos
6. Salt to taste
7. Freshly ground pepper
8. Water to cook the pasta

Directions to cook :

£ Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to the package instructions until done.

£ Meanwhile, heat the oil in the pan over a low heat. Add garlic and pinch of salt and cook, stirring constantly, until the garlic is golden.

£ Stir in the chilies.

£ Meanwhile, prepare the scrambled egg with salt and pepper.

£ Drain the spaghetti and add to the saucepan. Mix the egg & toss them to combine.

Serve immediately with the sprinkling of gratd parmesan.

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Italian Tagliatelle in basil garlic sauce

Tagliatelle is an Italian pasta served with different sauces both veg & non-veg. Most of us like pasta & can be served with different sauces. Basil garlic sauce is the old fashioned & classic sauce made with fresh basil & garlic. I like to add some chopped walnuts occasionally to make it little rich.

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I like to add 1/2 tsp of mayonnise along with basil sauce. It makes difference. Instead of basil, can substitute with other Italian herbs toooo. It taste simple & yum....

Ingredients :

1. Tagliatella (pasta) - 500 gms
2. Fresh basil leaves - 1 cup finely chopped
3. 1 tbsp olive oil
4. 1 Garlic clove - finely chopped
5. Salt to taste
6. Pepper for spice

Directions to cook :

# Cook the tagliatella in the salted boiling water for 8 to 10 min. Drain them.

# Meanwhile, heat olive oil in the pan. Add finely chopped garlic & then basil leaves. Saute them for 3 to 4 min.

# Add salt & ground pepper. Stir & remove from heat.

# Mix the sauce with drained tagliatella.

Serve hot with grated cheese.

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Italian vegetable Lasagna in white sauce

Italian cuisine is famous for its varieties & cheese. One such dish is Lasagna with different stuffings & with cheese as the main ingredients. Lasagna in meat is the popular version.

Vegetable lasagna would be perfect for heavy dinner/lunch too. I prefer adding a egg along with the spinach as one of the layer & those who wish to layer them with plain spinach, will taste equally good.

This is perfect during weekends, can spend more time on preparing & eating this Italian food. Either white sauce or tomato sauce can be used & I prefer white sauce which goes good with vegetable lasagna.

Ingredients :

For the white sauce :

1. Butter - 2 tbsp
2. Finely chopped garlic - 1 tsp
3. Bay leaf - 1 no
4. All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
5. Milk - 1 cup
6. Salt to taste
7. Pepper - 1/2 tsp
8. Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp

For the vegetable topping :

1. Oil - 1 tsp
2. Onion - 2 medium size
3. Vegetables - 1 cup (Carrot, beans, peas & ur fav)
4. Chilly powder (or) pepper powder
5. Salt to taste
6. Cinnamon stick & cloves (optional)

For the spinach topping :

1. Finely chopped spinach - 2 cups
2. Egg - 1 no (optina;)
3. Garlic finely chopped - 1 tsp
4. Oil - 1 tsp
5. Salt to taste
6. Pepper for spice (optional)
7. Lasagna pasta - 12 sheets
8. Cheese (Parmesen cheese, mozarella, ricotta cheese)

Directions to cook :

White sauce :

• @ Heat butter in the heavy bottomed pan, add bay leaf, chopped garlic & flour.
• @ Now add a cup of milk & salt to taste.
• @ Keep stiring continously, till u get the thick consistency. Finally add pepper powder and nutmeg powder & keep it aside (remove the bay leaf finally)

Vegetable topping :

• @ Heat oil in the pan, add cinnamon and cloves.
• @ Add onion & saute for few min. Add the vegetables, chilly powder and salt to taste.
• @ Once cooked, keep it aside.

Spinach topping :

• @ Heat oil in the pan, add chopped garlic followed by spinach.
• @ Then add pepper and salt to taste.
• @ Once cooked, remove them from the stove & allow it to cool.
• @ Now mix the beaten egg to it & keep it aside.

Cheese mixture :

• @ Mix all the three varieties of cheese & keep it aside.

Lasagna sheet :

• @ Cook the lasagna for 10 min in the salted boiling water.

Assembling all together :

• # In the baking pan, first arrange first 4 sheets of lasagna sheets & then spread a layer of white sauce over them.
• # Spread the vegetable mixture as a second layer over the white sauce.
  
  
• # Sprinkle the cheese as a third layer.
• # Arrange the next 4 sheets of lasagna over the cheese mixture.
• # Spread the spinach toppings over them.
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• # Arrange the final 4 sheets of lasgana & spread the white sauce as a next layer.
• # Finally cover them with the remaining cheese & bake them for 40 min at 180 C.

Delicious lasagna is ready to serve.

TIPS :

1. For the white sauce, can adjust the proportion of flour and milk based on the consistency required.

2. Adding cinnamon and cloves will taste good for the Indian tongue.

3. Truely, I didn't prefer adding all the 3 varieties of cheese. I just used only mozaralle cheese.

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