BAKED MAC n CHEESE

 

Kindly do spend a minute admiring that lone cherry tomato on top. Skip and I planted tomato seeds last year which bore fruit this year. A year of waiting yielded two fruits! Skip and I tenderly plucked the first one, washed it gently under a trickle of water, dried it with the softest muslin, lovingly rolled it about in our palms and then placed it on the board and sliced it into two. The second tomato went on top of this pasta.

 

Speaking of tomatoes, for a month, I was sans any help in the kitchen. Skip and Sky did help around with washing and drying the dishes but cooking was turning out to be a pain in my lower back. Our daily meal schedule was disrupted as I got caught with other chores and at times, I’d end up cooking a dish at the time we were supposed to have begun eating it. On one such day, it was already 8pm (we eat at 7 pm) and I had just begun to make chicken curry. I got the blender out to grind the tomatoes and even as I picked the smallest of the three jars, I knew it was the wrong choice. In 5 seconds, there was tomato puree splashed all across the kitchen, even behind me!

 

After letting out a loud wail of ‘Why God, Why’ and contemplating giving off the uncooked chicken to the Puppy, I went ahead and cleaned the kitchen and Sky and I enjoyed a delicious meal of Chicken curry and rice.

 

Lesson learnt. I now do not use the smallest jar even if it meant grinding just two cloves, three peppercorns and a spoonful of coriander seeds and ending up with unground spices. Why God, Why!!!

 

Skip and Sky love pasta and I love cooking it. I also like to add a lot of vegetables in the pasta. I usually make the stove top version. Skip prefers it runny and creamy and once you bake it, it loses that runny texture. I prefer the baked one, only because I like the cheesy, crunchy topping.

 

If you like it runny, you can stop at Step 8. If you don’t like veggies, you may skip adding them. You can also add, boiled, shredded and seasoned chicken or cooked chicken sausages/bacon into the pasta. If you like your pasta simple, I also have the recipe for Macaroni in Mushroom Sauce and if you like it with red sauce, I have the Pasta in Arrabiata Sauce on my blog.

 

If you enjoy the recipes, please do follow me on Facebook and Instagram @lucilucent. Also, when you try out these recipes, please do DM images of the same and I shall share them on my Instagram page. Thank you.

    

                                                                                                 

BAKED MAC n CHEESE  (with veggies)

Ingredients:

Macaroni – 2 cups
Water -  3 cups
Butter – 2 tbsp
Olive oil- 1 tbsp
Chopped onions – ½ cup
Chopped garlic – 2 tbsp
Sliced mushrooms –  1 cup
Paneer (cottage cheese) - 1 cup
Peas – ½ cup
Boiled sweet corn – ½ cup
Steamed broccoli – 1 cup
Carrot – 1 (sliced) 
Maida (all purpose flour) – 2-3 tbsps
Milk +Water – 2 cups
Cheese – ½ cup (or 2 cheese slices)
Salt, Pepper, Oregano
Mozzarella – ½ cup
Bread crumbs – ½ cup 

Method:

1.   Heat 3 cups water and once it begins to boil, add the macaroni to it along with a tsp of salt and few drops of oil. Once the macaroni is cooked (in less than 10 minutes), drain the water and keep aside.

2.     Heat the butter in a large saucepan, add the onions and garlic and cook until the onions soften and turn pink.

3.  Add the mushrooms and cook until they brown. Add the remaining vegetables and cook until they have softened

4.     Add olive oil to the vegetables and give it a quick stir and then add the flour and keep stirring it for a minute until the vegetables are coated with the flour.

5.  Add the milk and water mixture gradually, mixing well to make sure that no lumps form.

6.      Add the cheese and stir until the cheese melts.

7.      Once the sauce begins to boil, add the salt, pepper and oregano.

8.     Add the cooked macaroni into the sauce and let it cook for a minute or two.

9. (The Pasta is ready to be eaten at this stage.)

10. Transfer the contents to a baking dish. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on top and top it with bread crumbs.

11. Bake at 180C until the crumbs have browned a bit (about 10 mins).

12. Done.

 

 

 

 

PASTA IN ARRABIATA SAUCE

SP was my neighbour at Mysore and also my very good friend.  We’d plonk ourselves at each others’ house, talking for hours together. Food would be one of the prominent topics but never cooking. We entered the kitchen only in search of food back then. What a pity! Now that we are in two different cities, we send each other pictures and recipes of food we’ve cooked; admiring and drooling and whining at the same time. We are always hungry and the pictures are always sent when we are the hungriest!

SP had sent me the recipe for Pasta Cooked in Arrabiata Sauce last year and she claimed it was “super yummy”. I had saved the recipe in some random folder knowing I’d never cook this as none of us at home likes red sauce.

Skip loves Pasta so Mamma has given me two packets of uncooked Pasta with strict instructions to cook it for her “little Prince”. *eye-roll*

Last Friday, I got back home a bit early, in a mood to get a Chop Chop Chow dish ready. Skip was at home, so I decided to cook Pasta. I remembered SP’s recipe and for a change decided to make a red sauce. I went through the ingredients; the list looked so simple, I wondered if the sauce would end up tasting like tomato puree.

I’ve made minor changes to the original recipe and even after I was done, was sceptical of the dish. So I added grated cheese on it (one can’t go wrong with cheese) and we all sat to eat.

SP, you were right! The dish is “SUPER YUMMY”. And this is coming from people who dislike red sauce. The dish was light (unlike the one cooked in white sauce), the sauce tastes fresh and bursting with flavours of oregano, tangy and sweet tomatoes, cheese and garlic. The dish is healthier as compared to the white sauce that has generous portions of butter, flour, cream and cheese.

Sky insists that I henceforth cook pasta with red sauce. I have added red bell pepper and mushroom to the pasta. Feel free to add olives, baby corn, zucchini, broccoli or other crunchy vegetables to it.

PASTA IN ARRABIATA SAUCE (Serves 2)

Ingredients:

Pasta – 200 gms (I used Rotini)

Water - 2 cups

Pinch of salt, dash of oil

For the Arrabiata Sauce:

Tomatoes (small-medium sized) – 6

Olive oil- 1 ½ tbsp

Chilli Flakes – 1 tbsp

Chopped garlic – 8-9 cloves

Mixed herbs (oregano) – 1 tsp

Basil Powder/ Fresh Basil – 1 tsp

Sugar – 2 tsps (or as per taste)

Salt – as per taste

Pepper – ¼ tsp

Cornflour – 1 tsp

Cream – 2 tsp (optional)

Other Ingredients

Olive oil- 2 tbsp

Chilli Flakes – 1/2 tbsp

Mixed herbs (oregano) – 1 tsp

Basil Powder/ Fresh Basil – 1 tsp

Mixed vegetables- 1 cup (I used mushrooms and red bell pepper)

Cheese (grated) – ½ cup

Salt – as per taste

Method:

1.      Heat 2 cups water and once it begins to boil, add the pasta to it along with a tsp of salt and few drops of oil. Once the pasta is cooked (under 10 minutes), drain the water and keep aside.

2.      For the Arrabiata sauce: Boil the tomatoes in water. When they are cooked, the skin begins to crack open.  Remove tomatoes off the heat. Cool them and peel. Put the tomatoes in the blender. Add 1 tsp each of salt and sugar and blend it.

3.      Heat olive oil in a pan. Add the herbs, basil, chilli flakes and pepper. Sauté for half a minute. Pour the tomato puree into the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.

4.      Dilute 1 tsp cornflour in 3 tbsp water and pour it to the above puree.

5.      Add the chopped garlic and cook for a few more minutes until the sauce thickens.

6.      Add the cream and swirl the sauce slightly. (Taste the sauce at this point and add more salt and sugar if required)

7.      Turn off flame and keep aside.

8.      In another pan, heat olive oil. Add the herbs, basil, chilli flakes and pepper. Sauté for half a minute.

9.      Add the mushrooms and cook on high flame until the water is evaporated.

10. Add the bell pepper and sauté for a minute or two.

11. Pour the red sauce to the above pan with veggies and give it a good mix.

12. Add the cooked pasta and give it a good mix.

13.  Remove from pan and pour the pasta into the serving dish.

14. Sprinkle the grated cheese on the pasta.

15. Done.

Recipe notes:

·        The quantity of sugar and salt would vary depending on taste of the tomato sauce. Sugar is added to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Use red, ripe tomatoes and not greenish, sour ones.

·        Quantity of the olive oil may be further reduced.

·        Instead of dried chilli flakes, you may also whole red chillies. Boil it along with the tomatoes and grind in blender.

·        Quantity of spices can be altered as per taste.

·        I haven’t added onions to the sauce. Bob adds finely chopped onions to it.