Cajun Chicken Pasta

Life takes a turn at times. That which interested you becomes distant and that hobby which you thought would never peak into your mind becomes a favorite passtime. I am in that phase right now. I have been blogging for 4 years now and I would never want to give that up just like that. And so I am taking my time to settle my mind and start blogging again. I was pretty busy for the past few weeks with pappu's birthday celebrations. I will write a separate post on that soon. But as for now lets talk about this easy to make cajun chicken pasta.

Pasta is one thing that I make when I am pressed for time or when we need a quick fix meal. Pappu is a sucker for mac and cheese and so I make it atleast once a month. As for pasta, I try a different recipe and that is how this cajun pasta happened. It happened and it is now a favorite.

~*What U Need*~ Boneless skinless chicken thighs - 1/2 cup, cut into bite size pieces Linguine - 6 oz Onion - 1/2, sliced Mushrooms - 1 cup, sliced Red bell pepper - 1/2, sliced, I didnt have this so skipped Garlic - 2, chopped Cajun seasoning - 1 tbsp Chicken stock - 1/2 cup Heavy cream - 2 tbsp Coriander - 1 tbsp, chopped Butter - 1 tbsp Olive oil - 1 tbsp Salt, pepper - to season How I Made it: Cook the pasta as per package instructions. Season the chicken thighs with the cajun seasoning and set aside. In a large skillet add the butter and cook the chick thighs for 4-5 mins. Remove to a plate. Add the olive oil, add the onions, mushrooms, garlic and peppers and cook for 5-6 mins. Add the chicken stock, reduce the heat to medium low and cook for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has reduced by half. Add the cream and season lightly with salt and pepper, toss in the cooked pasta and cook everything together for about a minute or until the sauce thickens. Add the coriander and remove.

Serve warm!!!

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Stove top Mac & Cheese

When I need cheese, I need cheese and I need the good one and when I mean good cheese, I usually mean cheddar cheese. Something about cheddar makes you want more and more. My son is a great sucker for mac and cheese and I make this atleast once every two weeks for the sake of him and me. Although I have tried the baked version, the ease of this stove top version always makes me to attempt the later every time.

~*What U Need*~ Elbow pasta - 1/2 a pack Whole milk 3/4 cup Flour -1 tbsp Sharp cheddar cheese - 1 1/2 cups Salt, pepper Pinch of chilli powder How I Made it: Cook the pasta as per package instructions. Warm 1/2 cup of milk. Whisk together the remaining milk and flour until there are no lumps in a separate bowl. When the milk begins to steam, whisk in the flour mixture. Whisk until it begins to thicken, about 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually whisk in the cheese. Season well and cook till the the cheese has completely melted, add the pasta. Coat the pasta completely in cheese sauce. Serve immediately.

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Spaghetti Aglio E Olio | Aglio E Olio | Pasta recipes

Pasta is not a regular at home these days mainly because the huss is not a big fan of pastas except for the Chicken Tortilleni Alfredo from Panera. He loves it totally and it is always part of his order whenever we visit our local Panera. I like Pasta not love but like because I like to take a break from dosas and idlis with homemade pizzas or pastas. Coming to today's recipe, I made this for my lunch when this sudden craving of pasta hit me. I didn't want anything fancy and this simple aglio e olio was just right for the day.

"Spaghetti aglio e olio ("spaghetti with garlic and oil" in Italian) is a traditional Italian pasta dish, coming from Napoli, as it is a variant of the original one: Spaghetti alle Vongole. The dish is made by lightly sauteeing minced or pressed garlic in olive oil, sometimes with the addition of dried red chili flakes, and tossing with spaghetti. Finely chopped parsley can also be added as a garnish, along with grated parmesan or pecorino cheese, although according to some traditional recipes, cheese should not be added."

Prep time: 10 mins; Cook time: 5 mins; Serves - 2 ~*What U Need*~ Spaghetti - 1/2 a box Extra virgin olive oil - 3-4 tbsp Garlic - 1 fat clove, minced Dry red chilli flakes - 1 tsp Salt, Water Parsley - 1 tbsp(optional) Parmesan cheese - 1 tbsp How I Made it: Cook the pasta as per the package instructions. Drain and set aside. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and sauté the garlic and chilli flakes. Once the garlic is golden remove the pan from flame and toss the pasta in the oil. Serve warm topped with parsley and parmesan cheese.

Serve with some wine!!!

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Pasta in Red bell pepper Sauce

We make pastas once in a week and it mostly falls on Thursday. Without saying Thursday nights have become pasta nights for us which the huss has never been keen about. I like trying new varieties of pasta every time but the huss has never been a great fan. He never enjoys it but he never hates it. So it has always been my take on the pasta that makes to our plate. I mostly make a simple pesto pasta cos I love the fresh flavors that it gives to the pasta. But at times I like to experiment too.

Like this red bell pepper sauce pasta. The sauce was sweet, slightly tangy and gave a mild hot flavor to the pasta dish. I like using fusilli pasta because the sauce coats the pasta beautifully but you could use what ever your pantry holds. Grate some parmesan cheese over the piping hot pasta or if you are like me, sprinkle a generous helping and then indulge to your heart's content.

~*What U Need*~ Onion - 1, medium, cubed Garlic - 2 cloves Red bell pepper - 1, medium, cubed Cashew nuts - 4 Olive oil - 1 tbsp Salt - to season Pepper powder - to season Italian seasoning - 1 tsp Pasta - 2 cups, cooked Cooked Pasta water - 1/4 cup How I Made it: Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped garlic cloves and saute till brown. Add the onions and fry till golden brown. Add the cubed peppers and roast till blistered. Add the cashews and saute for 2 mins. Cool and transfer to blender and blend to a smooth paste adding the cooked pasta water as required. Return to the saucepan and saute till slightly thick. Season with salt, pepper and italian seasoning. Check the flavor. Add the cooked pasta and mix well. If needed sprinkle some pasta water. Remove from heat. Sprinkle some cheese if desired.

Serve warm!!!

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Noodles Cutlet / Tikki - Bake or Toast 'em

I don't have that many cutlet/tikki recipes in my space. Reason being 'A' prefers oven roasted fries to cutlets for his tea time snack and more than that I am too lazy to boil, fry, season, do an egg wash and then again pan fry them.

The huss is in favor of getting an occasional pack of 2-minute noodles. Says it makes for a fuss-free lazy-Saturday-Sunday breakfast. Between you and me, it makes his job of weekend cooking easy. And again between you and me, weekends are sleep-till-10am-days for me. It so happens that he wakes up early, makes the noodles for self and by the time I wake up it dries off and I will have to punch it down through my throat and at times it visits the bin too.

It was then that I started browsing for recipes that used noodles in some way or the other and luckily I came across a Tarla Dalal one. It is a great way to use leftover noodles (if you are left with some) and is a sure kid-pleaser or any crowd of any age pleaser. You could either pan fry or deep fry them or even bake them in the oven as I did in case you are too calorie conscious. And for the record, I am not sooo calorie-conscious. I baked them just to see how they would turn up and they are definitely not my type. But it makes a great option when you are serving these cutlets to your elders.

You could also slide them in between burger buns, top it with onions and tomato rings, a dollop of mayo and a slice of cheese.

~*What U Need*~ Maggi(5 Rs pack) - 1 Potato - 1,large Carrot - 1,medium,grated Onion - 1 Green chilli - 1 Garlic - 2 cloves Ginger - 1" Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp Coriander powder - 1 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Salt, oil - as needed Bread crumbs - to toast Egg - 1

How I Made it:
Boil potatoes and peel the skin. Mash them and set aside. Grate the carrot. Chop onions. Break the maggi and prepare as per instructions.
Heat oil, saute finely chopped ginger, garlic and green chilli. Add onions and saute till brown. Add the carrot and saute for 5 mins. Next throw in the red chilli-, coriander-, garam masala powders and fry. Mix the mashed potato and combine well. Remove from flame, once cooled add the prepared maggi and combine well. Take care not to break the noodles. Form cutlets of desired shape.
Break the egg, beat well. Alternatively you cam combine 1 tbsp flour with 2 tbsp water and use the slurry. Dip the cutlet in this, roll in breadcrumbs to evenly coat. Deep fry or toast in oil. You can also bake in a preheated oven @ 210 C for 20 mins. Flip and bake for another 10 mins to get a healthier version.

Serve with pulao or as evening snack or slide in between burgers.

** My Notes:
** You could use whole wheat noodles also.
** The next time I try this it is gonna be with Curry noodles but if you try that do let me know how it turned up.
** Instead of egg, you could use cornflour slurry to coat the tikkis.

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Mac 'n' Tom | Macaroni in Tangy Tomato Desi sauce | Pasta recipes

I have always loved noodles, American chop suey / any kind of pastas. When Maggi released their 2 minute Pazzta I immediately caught hold of the pack and tried it out. Ever since I have become a great fan of Pazzta... Though hubby does not like Pasta / noodles, I always find a reason to make home made noodles occasionally. It may be 'I will be late from office or I am tired, Can we have a simple veggie noodles to end the day' reason (Between U and me, he loves the PAZZTA a lot, and dumps a packet or two with the lame excuse of it being my favorite).

Mr.A likes anything to be spicy and he is against anything tangy except his mom's signature recipe - Thakkali Thokku. This recipe is a twisted version of Sharmi's Tomato Pasta. The twist being I added garam masala to make it Desi style. We loved the tangy spicy sauce and I was awed to see Mr.A cleaning his plate in mins.

~*What U Need*~
Macaroni - 1.5 cups
Onion - 1/2 of Large
Tomato Sauce - 1 tbsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Grated Cheese - 1 tbsp
Salt - as needed
Olive oil - 1 tbsp

To grind
Tomato(Large) - 1
Onion - remaining half
Dried Red Chillies - 2
Garlic cloves - 4

How I Made it:
Chop the onions very finely. Grind the ingredients mentioned under 'to grind' into a smooth paste without adding water.
Bring enough water so that the macaroni sinks in and there is excess water. Add salt and 1 tsp of oil when boiling.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the macaroni. Stir gently (occasionally) to prevent the macaroni from sticking to the pan.
Cook for 10mins or until the macaroni is soft yet firm enough to bite. Do not overcook it. It should not become mushy.
Strain water and slide it into cold water. This will prevent the macaroni from cooking further. Keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and fry till slightly browned.
Then add in the ground paste and fry till the raw smell of tomatoes and garlic goes off.
Now add the tomato sauce, garam masala, pepper and salt and combine well.
Add the cooked macaroni and mix gently till the sauce coats the macaroni evenly.
Sprinkle grated cheese and serve hot.

We washed this yummy mac down with a simple Mango lassi.

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Desi Style Scrambled Egg Pasta

This is one of my all time favorite dishes of the lot that Amma makes. I simply die for this. When we were kids, mom would make this with Anil semiya whenever we asked for egg noodles. Me and anna would be fighting over the dinner table to get more... We would literally gobble the dish down so that we could get more before the other does. Such die hard fans we were for this noodles.
I had this sudden craving for having a big bowl of egg noodles and hence made some with the telephone instructions from Amma. Making this pasta with Anil semiya to the right consistency sounded a bit tricky and hence I substituted it with fusilli pasta. The dish missed Amma's kai pakkuvam but other than that I had done justice.

~*What U Need*~
Pasta(any type) - 1 packet
Onions(large) - 2
Tomatoes(large) - 1
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp
Turmeric powder - a pinch
Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
Eggs - 2
Salt & Pepper - to season
Oil

How I Made it:
Cook the pasta as per package instructions / cook in water along with salt and few drops of oil till the pasta is cooked but not too soft and then dump in cold water to stop the cooking.
Heat oil in a kadai, add chopped onions and cook till the onions are translucent. Then add in the chopped tomatoes and cook till mushy. Add tomato ketchup and mix well.

Add salt, pepper, turmeric, coriander and chilli powder and cook till oil separates. Push the masala to one side of the kadai. Break open the eggs and scramble. Then mix this with the cooked mixture. Strain the pasta and mix with the egg masala. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve with tomato ketchup.


Sending this to For U Mum event held @ at Nupur's space



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Vegetable Noodles

When I was a kid, my mom never used to get me Maggi or any of those 2-minute noodles. Those were days when Maggi was sensational among kids. Friends of mine used to bring Maggi even for their lunch box. Whenever I asked mom for noodles, it would be just homemade veggie or egg noodles and I used to get angry over their stinginess. Never did it strike me that it was for my own good. Now reading articles on the "health benefits" of Maggi, I have completed skipped this out of our diet. Whenever I get a craving for noodles, it is either the homemade veg/egg noodles or pastas.

Once the vegetables are cut, making this is just a matter of minutes. You can whip up the whole dish in 5-10 mins.
Try adding this to your weekly menu regularly as you get the wholesome goodness of the veggies. Reason being we just half cook it to retain the crunchiness and that is kinda added benefit. Dump in loads of veggies and adjust the sauces to your taste and you will love this.

~*What U Need*~
Noodles - 1 packet (I Used Ching's)
Water - 6 to 7 cups

Carrot - 1
Beans - 10
Capsicum - 1 medium size Julienned
Onion - 1/2 sliced
Spring onion - 2 stalk sliced
Coriander leaves - 2 sprigs

Dark soy sauce- 1 tsp
Tomato sauce - 1 tsp
Green chilli sauce - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper powder- 1/2 tsp
Salt - as required
Garlic(finely chopped) - 1 tbsp
Oil - 3 to 4 tbsp

How I Made it:
Boil water in a large pot. When boiling, dump in the noodles and cook by adding 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil. Check a noodle by pinching. The texture should be neither mushy nor hard, just half through. This will take atleast 6 minutes. Pour this in the colander. Show this under running tap water to remove all the starch. Next dump it into cold water. So that they will not stick with each other.

Meanwhile heat oil in the wok. Add garlic and then the onions. Add the veggies after 2 mins, first the beans, saute for 2 minutes, add the carrots and then the capsicum. Saute for another 2-3 mins. Add the soy, chilli and tomato sauce and toss well. Now add pepper and salt.
Add the noodles. Toss till well blended, add the spring onion and serve hot.

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