Creamy Garlic Pasta

This was one of the first recipes I found to try when I decided to embark on my culinary adventure, because I was looking for something easy and different to do with pasta that didn't involve tomato (as all my pasta sauces seem to!), and I was thrilled to find this creamy sauce which doesn't need cream (because we don't keep cream on hand all the time!).  However, it's taken me this long to feel like making it.  I don't know why, I just haven't felt like it up until now.  

Today I was keen for a big bowl of fettucine, and for once we had fresh garlic on hand (rather than crushed garlic from a jar!) so I got to use that too.  Mum said she's kinda over curry (I haven't made it that much so far!) so didn't want leftovers from last nights spinach, kumara and lentil dahl.  So I decided that being a chilly pre-Autumn day, comforting creamy pasta would be a winner for lunch! :)  And it was SO EASY!!!

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons butter/oil/margarine

2 garlic cloved, minced

2 tablespoons flour

3/4 cup chicken stock

3/4 cup milk

2 teaspoons parsley flakes

salt and pepper to taste

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 pack of pasta, cooked according to directions - I used about 500g (dry) of fettucine

grated cheese to top

METHOD

• Cook pasta according to packet directions (takes about the same amount of time as cooking the sauce!)
• Melt butter and add garlic in a medium saucepan and cook on medium for 1 minute
• Add flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly
• Stir in stock and milk, and cook stirring frequently until sauce boils and thickens
• Add parsley, salt, pepper and cheese
• Stir until cheese is melted
• Toss hot pasta with sauce and serve immediately, topping with more cheese if desired

This turned out really well, if not a little dry (possibly because I used almost twice as much pasta as the original recipe suggested - oops!  If you prefer your pasta saucy, either halve the pasta, or double the sauce ingredients!).  But it was nice, not too creamy, not heavy, and packing a mean garlic punch!!!  I will definitely make this again, although in future I will possibly make my own adjustments to it, and maybe throw in some onions and vegetables for a more balanced meal.

Recipe Inspiration: http://www.food.com/recipe/creamy-garlic-penne-pasta-43023

Homemade Pizza

One of my favourite weekend lunches to make is homemade pizza.  It's fast and easy.  Often we have ham, and shredded cooked chicken for during-the-week-lunches to put in sandwiches, but it doesn't all get used up.  Homemade pizza is the perfect way to use up these things before they go off, and makes a delicious lunch.  

I'm going to share with you my personal favourite toppings.  Of course, homemade pizza is so simple, and versatile, you can make it any which way you want to.  

INGREDIENTS

2 pre-made pizza bases

Topping #1: Hawaiian Wannabe

spaghetti from a can (instead of tomato sauce/puree base)

diced onion

ham

pineapple (optional)

grated cheese on top

Topping #2: BBQ Chicken

baked beans (instead of tomato sauce/puree base)

sliced red onion

shredded chicken

sliced capsicum (optional)

BBQ sauce, squirted in a lovely swirl

grated cheese on top

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C (fan bake)
• Chuck all the toppings on the pizza
• Cover in grated cheese
• Put the pizzas in the oven and bake until cheese is melted and golden
• Cut and serve immediately!

in the oven

Hawaiian Wannabe

BBQ Chicken

Delicious!

Big Batch of Spaghetti

I was going to try making mi goreng from scratch for lunch, but decided we didn't have enough fresh veges to make it a worthwhile stirfry.  So then I decided I really felt like a big bowl of pasta in tomato sauce.  I set about making a sauce, based loosely on a recipe (see bottom of this post) I found on Pinterest a while ago.  It's almost a version of the vodka cream sauce, but without the vodka.  But mostly, I just made it up as I went along!

Serves 5 - 6 (it makes A LOT!)

INGREDIENTS

1 can whole peeled tomatoes (drained half the sauce they were in)

1 can tomato puree

2 tablespoons tomato paste

a squirt of tomato sauce

1/2 cup strong chicken stock

1 big teaspoon crushed garlic

1 big onion, diced

2 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons butter

garlic salt (to taste)

oregano (dried or fresh)

basil (dried or fresh)

1/4 tsp chilli powder (to taste)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup grated cheese

2 tablespoons cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water (to thicken)

spaghetti, cooked according to packet instructions to al dente 

METHOD

• Fill a pot with salted water and cook the spaghetti to al dente 
• Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in a pan, add garlic and onion and saute until tender
• Add chicken stock and simmer for a couple of minutes
• Add drained tomatoes, tomato puree, tomato paste, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and garlic salt.  Simmer for 10 minutes
• Mix in sour cream, cheese and cornflour/water mixture, simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring continuously
• Drain cooked pasta, and stir through the sauce
• Serve immediately, with cheese to sprinkle on top

It certainly satisfied my craving for a big, glorious bowl of spaghetti.  And of course, it's fun to eat!  Even if you do end up with a red ring of sauce around your mouth, like I always seem to! :D  The other good thing is that this dish doesn't sit heavy in your stomach - you feel full, but not disgustingly bloated or anything.  :)

Recipe Inspiration: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/09/pasta-with-tomato-cream-sauce/

AMAZING Pasta Sauce

Tonight for dinner, I made a variation of the Spaghetti with Vodka Cream Sauce that I made earlier in the blog.  Having cream that needed using, and feeling somewhat confident having made the basic recipe a couple of times, I decided to try and play around a little bit.  The result?

THE MOST AMAZING PASTA EVER!

Ok, so I'm not being terribly modest, but hell.  That was some damn good pasta!  I don't think I'll EVER make the basic Vodka Cream Sauce again!  I'm going to do it this new way from now on, because it was so good.  It was terribly refreshing, not heavy sitting in your stomach, and it's vegetarian (which is a bonus - cheap, and you don't need meat at every meal - sometimes it's nice to have a change up... after all, we are omnivores!).  

Another good thing is that it has lots of vegetables in it, but you barely even notice!

INGREDIENTS

dry pasta (enough for 4 - 5 + serves), cooked al dente, drained, kept warm - I used penne tonight!

2 tbsp oil

2 medium onions, diced

1 & 1/2 tsp salt, divided

a pinch of dried chilli powder (to taste - but be frugal, trust me)

1 generous teaspoon of crushed garlic

1 cup vodka

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock (I made it quite strong for extra flavour)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can whole tomatoes

1/2 cup cream

diced capsicum (bell peppers)

1 medium carrot, grated

cherry tomatoes, halved

mushrooms (optional - I fried these on the side in a bit of butter for my Dad to add to his sauce - I personally don't like mushrooms)

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

2 tbsp cornflour mixed in 2 tbsp cold water to thicken (if necessary, add at the end)

shaved or grated parmesan cheese, for on top!

METHOD

• Heat oil, add onion and sauté until tender.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, chilli, and garlic; sauté 1 minute.
• Add vodka (when cooking with alcohol, there is always the chance of it catching on fire, so be very careful); bring to a boil
• Reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by about half
• Stir in 1 tsp salt, stock, and cans of tomatoes (you may want to smoosh the whole tomatoes up a bit as it simmers); bring to a boil
• Add diced capsicum, grated carrot and halved cherry tomatoes.  Season with dried basil, oregano and garlic salt.
• Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, tasting the sauce and adjusting seasoning if necessary
• Mix in cream, stirring constantly while cooking for another 2 minutes
• If the sauce is a little thin, mix the cornflour and water and add to the sauce, simmering for a few more minutes while stirring constantly
• Serve immediately on al dente pasta, with cheese to garnish.

It smelled and looked so good, I wanted to eat ASAP and I forgot to take a picture on the bench... hence why you can see my legs haha!

Then once you've eaten this pasta, come back to my blog and thank me for introducing you to the best sauce of your life! ;)  It's so easy.  It may look like a lot of steps, but it's really not, and I've kept it as simple as possible! :)  I prepared all my diced veges first so I could just chuck them in as needed, so that keeps it easy. :)

Happy cooking!

Spaghetti Cups

In New Zealand, where I live, there is this staple food.  It's called spaghetti.  And I'm not talking about dried pasta that you cook to al dente, and serve with a variety of sauces.  I'm talking about spaghetti out of a can, it comes already soft and soggy, with a delicious tomato sauce.  It's one of my favourite things, I've eaten it my whole life.  It's incredibly versatile, and amazing.  It's like the little sister of baked beans.  Everything you can do with baked beans, you can do with spaghetti from a can; on toast, in a toasted sandwich, as a pizza sauce base, heated up straight from the can, in casseroles, in meatloaf, on meat pies, anything.

When I lived overseas, that was one thing I missed a great deal was spaghetti from a can.  We used to even (and I'm not kidding or exaggerating) get trays of the cans sent over to Malaysia especially.  And we were frugal, we used it sparingly, to make it last as long as possible (we lived in Malaysia for 3 years) because it was hard to get the trays sent over.

So, my spaghetti of choice (because there are many brands available here) is Watties Spaghetti.  Just the plain original stuff (none of the crap with the added cheese, bacon, or sausages... ick!).  Now in most of the recipes I make, I'm going to try not to use specific brands, but honestly, there is NOTHING like Watties Spaghetti, so this is an occasion where I am going to break my own rules.  :)

Now this recipe, it's so simple.  You make bread cups.  You fill them.  You bake them.  You eat them.  YES.  Simplicity at its finest.

INGREDIENTS

12 slices of bread (white, multigrain, whatever you have)

50g butter (I thought, golly that's a lot, but you do use it all!)

1 x 300g can Watties Spaghetti (or baked beans, if you'd really prefer!)

Grated cheese

1 onion, finely diced

Some ham, cut into small pieces

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 180 deg C (aka moderate oven).
• Cut the crusts from the bread (and keep aside... I'll tell you why later!) and brush one side of each slice with a little melted butter - I used a rubbery pastry brush - super easy!
• Push the bread buttered side down into 12 muffin tins and bake for 15 mins, or until golden and crispy - depends how you like your toast.
  
• Meanwhile, mix the can of Spaghetti with diced onion and ham (and anything else you fancy adding!)
• Fill the bread cups evenly with a spoonful of the mixture, and then top with grated cheese
• Pop them back in the oven for another 15 mins, or until the filling is hot and the cheese is melted and golden and amazing. 

And now, you stuff your face!  Haha but seriously, how easy is that?  And delicious.  They're almost like little pizza cups.  I love that they make a good lunch item, I'm definitely going to make these during the week this year to take to uni for cheap lunches.  I'll let you in on a little secret, they're also really nice cold!  So you don't even have to worry about heating them up!  BONUS!  

And who says this is just a lunch item?  Go NUTS.  Crack some egg in there, or bacon, or heck, just eat one of these ones for breakfast!  And the range of fillings... my goodness.  Baked beans, shredded chicken, cheese, and BBQ sauce make amazing fillings too!  Use your imagination!  Perfect.

Recipe inspiration: http://www.foodinaminute.co.nz/Recipes/Mini-Spaghetti-Pies

Edit: OH SNAP! I forgot to tell you what I did with the leftover crusts.  I thought this was very clever and resourceful of me, because cutting the crusts off 12 pieces of bread seemed like a waste.  So.  I got a flat oven tray, drizzled some oil in the bottom, tossed the crusts in there, shook 'em around a bit to make sure they all got some oil, and chucked that in the oven when the bread cups were first in the oven.  VOILA breadsticks!  I took them out when golden, and they are going to be PERFECT for dipping in anything dippy, like hummus, or other fancyful dips!  YAY! :)  Much better than buying breadsticks for $6 a box (or something equally ridiculous)!

Spaghetti with Vodka Cream Sauce

I think this is the recipe that started it all for me.  Because I kept hearing about this sauce, and how it had vodka (something that tends to stick in ones mind!) and cream and tomatoes and you just serve it with al dente pasta, and BAM it blows you away because it is so AMAZING.

They were right.  It was delicious.  And it is DEFINITELY going in my special book of favourite recipes (trust me, this is a real honour!). 

The beautiful thing about this recipe, is that you can do SO much more with it; it's a perfect base for all sorts of variations.  Let your imagination run WILD!  Also, ingredients don't have to be exact, like chill out, if you don't have fresh basil, use dried.  If you don't have basil at all, try oregano.  Cooking is FLEXIBLE! :)

It serves 3 - 4.  Everything I cook will probably serve about that much, because we are a family of 3.  :)  I'm not gonna bother with nutritional info, that's way too involved haha... and I'm lazy.

INGREDIENTS

dry thin spaghetti pasta (OR any other pasta, enough for 3-4 serves), cooked al dente, drained, kept warm

1 tbsp (olive) oil - I used canola/rice bran oil - whatever you have is cool.

1/2 cup finely chopped onion (OR 2 to 3 shallots)

3/4 tsp salt, divided

a pinch of dried chilli powder (to taste - be frugal, trust me)

1 garlic clove, minced (OR the equivalent approx crushed garlic, that's cool too!)

1/2 cup vodka

1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 can diced tomatoes, undrained

1/4 cup cream

3 tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil - or dried, up to you, whatever is in the cupboard!

shaved or grated parmesan cheese, for on top!

METHOD

• Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat, and sauté onion until tender.
• Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, chilli, and garlic; sauté 1 minute.
• Add vodka (when cooking with alcohol, there is always the chance of it catching on fire, so be very careful); bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat, and simmer 3 minutes or until liquid is reduced by about half. 
• Stir in scant 1/2 teaspoon salt, broth, and tomatoes and dried basil (if you're not using fresh); bring to a boil. 
• Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. 
• Remove skillet from heat and let cool slightly.  Now at this point, the original recipe I followed says to use a stick blender to puree, or to take it out and use a conventional blender to puree before returning to the pan for finishing touches.  But personally, I don't mind a chunky lumpy tomato sauce.  So I skipped this step.
• Mix in cream, then cook the sauce for 2 minutes over medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat. Stir in cooked pasta and fresh basil (if you're using it)
• Taste the pasta and adjust seasoning if needed. 
• Serve immediately with copious amounts of cheese, because who doesn't love cheese.  If you don't have parmesan, no stress, any cheese is good pretty much!  We usually just have Edam. 

Et voila!  Amazeballs pasta.  YUM.  Unfortunately, when I first made this, I wasn't planning on having a food blog, and I didn't take photos, but I promise next time I make it, I will take a photo and add it to this post.  But pretty much it just looks like a bowl of heaven. 

Now I'm going to give credit to the website I got this recipe off, as the above is only a slight variation of her instructions... and I don't plagiarise.  I just set the method out in an easier way to read, and altered it to what I actually did as opposed to what was written in the original.  :)  It's here: http://www.6bittersweets.com/2010/11/boy-approved-spiked-pasta-spaghetti.html