DOUBLE TOMATO BRUSCHETTA

I have never tasted Italian until I came to US. I wasn't impressed at first. But later, I realized Italian cuisine has a flair of its own. And now, Italian and Indian go side by side in my kitchen. 

I recently bought a jar of julienne cut sun dried tomatoes and a french baguette and wanted to use both. This recipe from allreceipes.com caught my attention. This is the usual Bruschetta with a twist..yes! the twist is the sun dried tomato.I made some changes to the recipe and it turned out yummy every single time. Let me know how it turned out for you :)

Ingredients

Makes 12 slices

2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon pesto sauce ( I din't have fresh basil)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 French baguette

A handul of shredded Mozzarella chesse

How to make it

- Preheat the oven on broiler setting.

- In a bowl, combine tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and pesto sauce 

- Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes.

- Cut the baguette(for about 12 slices) into 3/4-inch slices 

- On a baking sheet, arrange the baguette slices in a single layer. 

- Broil for 1 to 2 minutes, until slightly brown.

- Divide the tomato mixture evenly over the baguette slices. Top the slice with mozzarella cheese.

- Broil until the cheese is melted.

Take it out and enjoy.

PASTA CASSEROLE

Baking fascinates me. I am often tempted to attempt it. I have had my bad days. But there are some days when it turns out to be real good. This is one such. Though this recipe doesn't involve too much of oven time and doesn't come under 'baking', I still it call it the same. I am grateful to Gayathri for introducing me to this, a good friend who is also like a sister to me.

I have done lots of experiment with the ingredients and this one is always a

 

classic. If you are looking for mouth watering, irresistible dish, this is the one.

Ingredients              

serves 2

1/2 a box of Pasta of your Choice (but not the noodle ones)
1 tsp Olive oil
2 cloves of Garlic, crushed and minced
1 medium sized onion, finely sliced
2 green chillies (adjust according to your spice level)
A bowl of Chopped Cauliflowers, Brocolli, Carrots, Brussel sprouts 
(You can always change the choice of veggies. Go wild on that!)
1 Jar of pasta sauce of your choice ( I used garden vegetables)
2 tsp of Mccormick Garlic pepper grinder (This one is real good)

(if not)

2 tsp of grounded black pepper, ,red chilli flakes, a little bit of Oregano leaves
salt to taste (I usually don't add salt as pasta sauce already has it)
3 handful of shredded cheese of your choice for topping(I used American, Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar and Mozzarella)
Some bread crumbs 

How to make it

- Boil desired amount of Pasta according to package instructions. I usually boil around 1/3rd and add a lot of veggies for two people.

- Heat the pan and add oil. Add chopped Garlic and chillies and saute. Add onions and wait till they get translucent. Add Pepper and chilli flakes and add the chopped veggies. Let it cook but be careful not to burn them.

- Add pasta sauce adequate enough for both veggies and the boiled pasta and cook it covered until the raw smell goes off.

- Drain the boiled pasta and add it to the sauce and mix them well.

- Take a 8x10inch pan and fill them with these. Top them with shredded cheese and bread crumbs.

- Place it in an pre-heated oven at 425 F for about 20 minutes.

- Broil it for 2-3 mins. Here is a step-by-step photo of how to make.

FETTUCCINE PASTA

This recipe is inspired by Carabba's Italian grill's Pasta Sostanza. Srik and I are big time foodies and we loved this entree. I wanted to try this for a very long time and of course I did some variations. Here is the recipe. Try it and let me know. I am sure it will be a hit.

Ingredients

serves 2

1 tablespoon olive oil (I used California estate oil by Trader joe's)

2 tsp of pine nuts
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 whole tomatoes with juice, chopped
8 mushrooms, diced
1 can artichoke hearts, drained

1 tsp of pesto sauce(I used Trader joe's)
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

How to make it

- Boil Fettuccine(as needed) in salted water according to packaged instructions.

- In a medium-sized saucepan, heat oil and add garlic, pine nuts and saute.

Add the chopped tomatoes stirring frequently. When its done, add the salt and pepper to taste.  Add pesto sauce and blend it with the tomato sauce.

- As pasta is cooking, add chopped mushrooms and chopped drained artichoke hearts. When done, drain pasta and add the cooked veggies mixing to sufficiently coat.Transfer to plate or pasta bowl.  Sprinkle Italian bread crumbs and 1 tsp of olive oil(optional) prior to serving.

CABBAGE WRAPS

I have always liked the 'Lettuce wraps' at P.F.Chang's. Inspired by that, I tried 'Cabbage wraps'. Well, I din't have Tofu and instead used Paneer and it turned out to be really good. This is a very easy and no fail recipe.

Ingredients 

serves 2

- 1 medium sized onion

- 2 small sized tomatoes

- 1 big sized potato

- Paneer (I took about 20 pieces)

- 3 tbsp of Soy syrup

- 3 tbsp of green chillies paste

- 1 garlic pod

- 1/2 tsp of red chilli powder

- Crushed black pepper to taste

- Salt to taste

- 2 tsp of oil

How to make it

- Heat oil in a wok.

- Put finely cut onions, garlic and saute.

- Once onions become transparent, add finely cut tomatoes.

- Then add finely cut potatoes and Paneer pieces.

- Let the vegetables cook completely and slightly get brownish.

- Now add red chilli powder, add soy syrup and green chilli paste. Mix well.

- Add black pepper and salt. These syrups have salt in them. So taste before you add extra salt.

- Serve with Cabbage leaves.

Notes

- The amount of paneer can be added more or less according to your liking for paneer.

- I guess finely chopped green bell peppers gives a super taste to this.

- The Ingredients mentioned above is just my imagination. You can improvise as usual.

- Cabbage leaves are different from Lettuce leaves. Both don't taste the same. 

KADAI PANEER

My DH and I love paneer in almost any form and taste. In fact, we loved it when we found it in our pasta :) ( I will post that recipe later). Now, the recipe for the addictive Kadai paneer. Before that, the word 'Kadai' means wok or pan, in case you are wondering.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

2 cups paneer, cubed

1 medium sized capsicum / green bell pepper, cubed

1 large onion

2 green chillies

2-3pods of garlic, crushed

1 piece of ginger, crushed (or 1tsp ginger paste)

2 medium sized tomato, pureed

A pinch of kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves

1 tsp red chilli powder

A pinch of turmeric powder

1/2 tsp jeera / cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander powder / dhania powder / malli podi

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp oil

1 tsp of Lemon juice

1/2 cup fresh curd

Salt to taste

How to make it

- Deep Fry the Paneer cubes in Oil, until they turn to golden brown in color.( I generally don't fry paneer for other recipes, but for this one, I have tried both and they have a taste of their own. So, frying is purely optional. If you don't fry paneer, you can skip the next part. It might turn too soggy or even break.)

- Remove from the Oil and transfer them to a bowl containing 1/2 cup of Fresh Curd and keep them together for 10 min. Mix the Paneer cubes well with curd, so that the Paneer turns soft and fluffy. Keep aside.

- Heat 2 Tbsp Oil in a Pan, add Chopped Onions and Turmeric Powder and fry until the Onions slices turn transparent. Then add Ginger and Garlic and fry for a minute.

- Now add chopped Green Chillies, Chopped Tomatoes and fry until the Tomatoes turns soft and are cooked properly. It might take nearly 5 minutes to have the Tomatoes cooked.

- At this stage, add all the powders listed in the ingredients box above – Chilli Powder, Coriander or Dhaniya Powder, Cumin or Jeera Powder and Garam Masala Powder to the pan.

- Add Salt and half cup of Water to this mixture and cook for 5 minutes.

- Now add Green Capsicum (Bell Pepper) to the pan and cook for 5 min by closing the lid. Ensure that the Capsicum or Bell Pepper pieces do not turn too soft.

- Add fried and soaked Paneer or Cottage Cheese with Curd to the above mixture along with dried Fenugreek leaves or Kasuri Methi and cook for 2-3 minutes so that the aroma of the Kasuri Methi spreads into the Curry.

- Next add Lemon Juice and mix well.

- Once done, garnish with cilantro and serve hot with naan/kulcha/chapathis

SHEERANAM (SWEET MILK PONGAL)

This is very similar to Akkaravadisal, another sweet pongal recipe. Though I am not much of a sweet lover, there are certain sweets to which I will never say no. This is one such. Very easy to make and tasty to eat recipe.

Ingredients

serves 2-3

Rice - 1/2 cup

Milk - 5 cups (3 low fat milk + 2 half and half - my proportion)

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Cashew nuts - 1 tsp

Cardamom crushed - 1/2 tsp

Raisins - 1 tsp

Almonds(cut) - 1 tsp

Ghee - 2.5 tsp

How to make it

- Wash rice and add 5 cups of milk and pressure cook for 10 mins. (I did like this to save time but you can also do the same in open flame and it might take some time to cook completely).

- Transfer to another container. Once the rice is cooked, reduce flame and add sugar little by little and mix well till it is dissolved.

- Remove from fire and add fried cashewnuts, raisins, almonds. Heat rest of the ghee, pour on the top and serve.

TRISCUITS WITH A TWIST

It was a sunday evening. Here-ends-the-weekend depression was about to set in. I wanted to eat something but din't want to strain too much and in fact din't have the motivation to do anything. But I had to make something to feed another hungry soul, my DH Srik. That's when I got the idea for this recipe. All you need is Triscuit crackers. It is a whole wheat snack cracker in a square shape and comes in a variety of flavors. If you are looking for something different to pop into your mouth and make it in a jiffy, this is the one.

Ingredients

No of crackers per choice ( I used cracked pepper and olive oil flavor)

Shredded cheese of your choice ( I used Monterey jack)

2 tsp of mint chutney

How to make it

- Arrange the crackers.

- Make tiny patties of the shredded cheese and place it on the top of each cracker.

- a small amount of mint chutney on top of cheese on each cracker.

This is not a much of a recipe-kind. But if you are clueless as to what to do for a fresh flavor, this might help as an idea. And as always, you can experiment with your creativity. And when you do, don't forget to let me know the recipe ;)