Fusili Pasta with Creamy Sauce

Ingredients:

2 portions of fusili pasta (i’m not going to tell you how much pasta to eat!)
1 large onion – finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic – crushed
2 table spoons of cream cheese
1 small pot of single cream (100ml)
1 small bunch of rocket leaves
salt and pepper / fresh herbs


Preparation:

– fill a large pan with salted water and bring to the boil
– meanwhile, saute the onions and garlic, along with some rosemary in a heavy pan, once translucent add the mushrooms and saute gently for 10 minutes until soft and packed with flavor
– add the pasta to the water a boil until you like it (I like a full 8 minutes for dry pasta)
– take the mushroom pan off the heat, pour in the cream then return to a low heat and let the bubble for a further 5 minutes, then off the heat again and add the cream cheese.
– drain the pasta, pour on the mushroom sauce, stir in a bunch of rocket and serve.
eat and of course, enjoy!

Broccoli Ribbon Nudel

With just a hint of cheese, this broccoli and noodles recipe is a delicious light side dish that will go great with chicken, lamb or even fish!

Here's what you are going to need:

5 cups of chicken broth
4 cups of  noodles, uncooked
4 cups of frozen broccoli florets
1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
salt and pepper
1 cup of Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese (or your favorite shredded cheese)

Here's what you need to do:

Bring the chicken broth to a boil in medium pot.

Drain. 

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the noodles and broccoli to the skillet and toss with the butter.

Add the garlic, salt and pepper. Toss.

Add the cheese.Toss and Enjoy!!!!!!

Ginger And Spring Onion Chicken With Egg Noodles 薑蔥雞塊撈麵

Ginger And Spring Onion Chicken With Egg Noodles 薑蔥雞塊撈麵

This is one of our must order dishes at our local Chinese. Some of you might be more familiar with the mud crab or lobster version, this is pretty delicious if you only want to spend a fraction of the other 2 versions. This is the first attempt and I must say it tasted just like what I remember. If you want to spend a bit more on a mud crab or lobster, the method is the same.

P.S The photos are horrendous so I hope it wouldn't stop you from trying. I will certainly be making this again, photos will be updated then.

Serves 3

you'll need;

3/4 of a free range chicken, chopped into pieces

10 cm piece of ginger, sliced

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 onion, sliced

4 spring onions, cut into 2" lengths

4 tbs of oyster sauce

dash of sesame oil

dash of soy

dash of white pepper

2 cups of chicken stock

Ginger And Spring Onion Chicken With Egg Noodles 薑蔥雞塊撈麵

corn flour solution

Cook noodles with plenty of hot water for 15 seconds, remove and rinse in a big pot of cold water. Bring the water back to a rapid boil, return noodles and cook til al dente.Prepare the vegetables.

Fry chicken pieces till golden.

Saute garlic and ginger til fragrant, add in the chicken and continue to cook for a minute on high heat.

Add seasonings and stock, bring it to a boil then chuck in the onions and continue to cook for a further minute. Check for seasonings and thicken the sauce with a little corn flour solution. Pour the everything over the awaiting cooked noodles.

Vegan Fusili Bolognese

Vegan Fusili Bolognese

 Being that it is now freezing and gloomy outside in my part of the world, I have had quite a hankering for pasta Bolognese. I always think of it as the perfect food to warm me up on a not so cozy evening. I never buy this stuff on a normal trip to the market- but for this dish, I am very glad that I did. It makes a great (although very tomato-y) Bolognese sauce in mere minutes.

Mmmm… thank you Bologna.

Bolognese Sauce (not necessarily authentic) ~ Vegan & Gluten Free

Ingredients:

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup pasta (of ur choice,I choose FUSILI)
• 1 bouillon cube (I used no chick’n)
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 1 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
• 1/3 cup red kidney beans
• 12 oz tomato paste
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tsp salt
• dash- 1/2 tsp each of dehydrated red bell pepper, dehydrated onion, oregano, basil

In medium sized saucepan, bring 1 cup water, bouillon cube, fennel seed and crushed garlic to a boil. Remove from heat and add TVP.

Return to med-low heat and add in tomato paste, olive oil, 1/2 cup water, almond milk, salt, and spices. Cook about 1 minute and then reduce heat to low, simmering until hot. Be sure to stir occasionally as you cook it to prevent any sticking to the pot.

Serve over your favorite pasta. I like tinkyada, in pretty much any variety. After cooking pasta and rinsing quickly with cold water, I return the pasta to the pot I cooked it in and add about 4 tbsp olive oil and lightly salt.

So easy! So good.

Vegan Fusili Bolognese

Pasta Quattro Formaggi (Pasta with Four Cheeses)

 Pasta Quattro Formaggi (Pasta with Four Cheeses)

This dish originates from Venice Italy. At most Italian restaurants you will pay dearly for this simple preparation. It is super simple and easy to make at home for a fraction of the cost. Serves 4.

Ingredients:
Pasta Quattro Formaggi/Pasta with Four Cheeses:

 Pasta Quattro Formaggi (Pasta with Four Cheeses)

• 1  pound of pasta, I choose gnocchi
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 12 cup shredded sharp provolone cheese
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• kosher and fresh crack black pepper to taste.
• 4 tbs parsley, chopped for garnish

Directions

• In a large saute pan, melt the butter.
• Add the cooked rigatoni and toss with the butter over low heat until well coated.
• Add the mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan, and the ricotta and toss well.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Place on a large platter and garnish with parsley
• Serve at once.

Cheesy Onion Macaroni Pasta

I have something very special for this mac n’ cheese, mostly because I have a thing for secretly healthy things that don’t seem healthy.
 In case you didn’t notice by the longest blog title ever, there is a ton of good stuff in this mac and cheese, because sometimes I just need to add in everything.

And by everything, I mean just caramelized onions.  :D

Are you in love yet?  My stomach is happy and so are my skinny jeans and so is my husband.  This is a delicious miracle!
Now, for the moment of truth.

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  30 mins

Total time:  35 mins

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

• ½ box whole grain elbow macaroni (about 2.5 cups dry)
• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons evaporated milk
• ¼ cup chicken or vegetable broth
• 1 oz low fat cream cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 tablespoon butter
• ½ cup onions, sliced thinly
• 1 large crispy apple, chopped or grated

Instructions

1. Heat butter in a skillet over low heat. When melted, add onions and let caramelize for at least 30 minutes for the best flavor. Keep heat on low/low-medium.
2. Cook the pasta according to directions. Drain and return to pan over low heat. Add chicken broth, evaporated milk, and cream cheese. When combined, add in salt.
3. Add onions to the pasta. Stir to combine and add a tablespoon more broth or milk if needed.
4. Just before serving, mix in cheese and stir until melted. Top it with Freshly ground Pepper powder.

Creamy Spinach Pasta Sauce

Or to give it it's full title: Creamy spinach garlic lemon nutmeg sauce...yeah, there's a lot going on there but it works and is so easy - just chuck it all into a blender till smooth :). It's creaminess from coconut milk but again, don't worry, with everything else going on you don't taste anything "coconutty" but it does make for a super creamy pasta sauce :) Also, I didn't show it in the photo here but I added some fried mushrooms to mine which went really well with it.

• 200ml coconut milk, full fat or reduced. Can also use soy cream.
• zest of 2 lemons
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 120g spinach, chopped up so it'll fit in the blender!
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• freshly grated nutmeg
• freshly ground black pepper
• 150g - 200g pasta of your choice. I choose Penne
♥
• optional - 250g sliced mushrooms, fried
• optional - 1 large red onion, sliced and fried

For the sauce simply place everything in a blender and puree until super smooth. That's it! Cook pasta according to package instructions but remove with a couple minutes left. Drain and place back into pot. Pour the sauce over, it will look like too much but don't worry, it cooks down. Cook over medium heat until hot and thickened up. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt/pepper/nutmeg as you like.

EDIT - If adding mushrooms and onions, simply fry the sliced mushrooms and red onion together with some vegan butter and a pinch of salt and pepper until soft and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in with everything else.

Apologies for the messy platting, but this is it using soy cream and with added mushrooms and red onion, which although hard to see, there was plenty in there!

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

  So this weekend I decided to try out the curiously named Spaghetti alla Puttanesca. If you trawl the internet for this dish, you’ll find it variously described as whore-style pasta or slut’s spaghetti. Now, puttana literally translated from the Italian does mean a tart, but I cannot figure out why this dish is named so!

The sauce for this pasta dish is a fiery red tomato sauce – the heat comes from red chilli flakes and capers. I used only chilli flakes since I didn’t have any capers on hand. 

.

You’ll need:

• 300g Spaghetti (I use Barilla)
• 500g Tomatoes, grated
• 3-4 cloves of Garlic, chopped
• 8-10 pitted black Olives, chopped
• 5g red Chilli flakes (adjust as per your taste)
• Salt and Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Parsley to garnish (optional)

How to:

• Put the water on boil for the pasta and add some salt. You don’t need to add any olive oil – that’s a myth.
• Add the garlic and fry lightly.
• Add the grated tomatoes and cook them down. Also add the red chilli flakes, salt and pepper. Add only half of the salt that you would normally use since the anchovies are quite salty.
• Once the sauce is almost cooked, add the olives and stir them in. Turn off the heat and let the sauce sit for a bit.
• Meanwhile, the water for the pasta should have started boiling. Add the spaghetti and cook as per packet instructions. Reserve ½ a cup of the starchy water and drain the spaghetti. Add a bit of olive oil and toss.
• Mix the spaghetti and the sauce, adding just enough of the reserved water to the sauce to help it coat the spaghetti well.
• Garnish with parsley.

  Buon appetito!