Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Featured in Foodgawker.com on 16th Oct 2012

Featured in Tastespotting.com on 21st Oct 2012

No matter how good my refrigerator is, I can’t store things forever. Especially fruits and vegetables. I don’t have the luxury of taking a lovely evening stroll to source my produce everyday, like the friendly aunty who lives across the street from me. I go to a hypermarket close by and bundle everything I can into the car and lug it home once a week. I know the hypermarket claims the produce is super fresh and challenges anyone to claim otherwise. But everyone knows that even the supposedly ‘fresh’ produce in supermarkets is already stashed in cold storage for weeks to help transport it intact. Now is this a rant on the troubles of city living or the hypocrisy of large corporations? No.

I just have a rule that once I buy something perishable from the market, I need to finish it within a week. In a perfect world, I would have planned the menu for the week in advance. I would have used up everything judiciously by the end of the week. I would have variety everyday and would eat healthy and balanced meals. Unfortunately we live in the real world. Sometimes we work late, sometimes we run out of gas, sometimes we go out for dinner and sometimes we just want to order in greasy Chinese. Towards the end of the week, when I open the fridge to grab some chocolate – the veggies are staring back at me. The guilt meter points to high. That’s when genius strikes and I rustle up something that can accommodate the weeks shopping list. Fortunately this time, they all lent themselves to a nice Roasted Vegetable sauce served with Pasta. Hallelujah! Because it looked and tasted so amazing, the co-resident thought I planned this, weeks in advance J

Summer Pasta Salad - a la Infinitea

I’m more of a summer person than a winter person. Or so I thought, till I got baked in the sun the past couple of days. The heat has been unbearable. I have the fan on full speed at home and there’s still no respite. Being Bangalorean, I always think I don’t need an AC in our pleasant city. Boy, am I wrong! The only time I’m happy these days, is when I’m in the car and I have the AC on full blast in my face or when am under a cold shower! Which leads me to change my earlier notion of what weather person I am - I am an opti-weather person. I don’t like it too hot or too cold, too dry or too rainy, too windy or too still! I’m not fussy, but that’s the weather I would like. If wishes were horses, right? But I still concede that when it comes to satisfying my weather requirement, no other city in the world gets it as close to perfect as Bangalore. It’s almost like my genes have adapted to the city of my birth and the thermostat has been set to ‘comfortable’. Speaking of comfortable, I went to my old hangout Infinitea last week. Lazing around on their sofa’s, ordering a pomegranate ice tea and summer pasta salad and chatting with the girls. Can’t get more comfortable than that! I adore their version of the summer pasta salad (which is more of a main course in my opinion) and tried to replicate it at home. Results? A very comfortable match!

Summer Pasta Salad

Prep time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 15 mins

Serves: 4

What you need:

350 gms Penne

3 Peppers (1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green), finely chopped

1 small Onion, finely chopped

6 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cup Corn Kernals

100 gms Mushrooms, finely chopped

1 Tbsp chopped Jalapenos

1 Tbsp chopped Sun dried tomatoes in oil

2 Tbsp chopped Green and Black Olives

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Butter

200 ml Cream

Salt and freshly ground black Pepper

To garnish:

Grated Cheddar Cheese

Mixed Herbs

What to do:

Julienne the peppers and then chop them up into tiny pieces. Ensure that the onions and mushrooms are also chopped to roughly the same size. Try to cut up the olives, jalapenoes and sun dried tomatoes to the same size as well. In the meantime, boil the corn and set aside.(I used the microwave).

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and toss in the butter. When the butter sizzles, lower the heat and add the onions. Saute for 2 mins till it gets soft. Raise the heat. Then add the garlic and the mushrooms and saute for another minute. Toss in the peppers, saute for 3 mins. Finally add the corn, stir to combine.

Now lower the heat and add the cream. Cook for a minute and toss in the jalapenoes, sun dried tomatoes and olives. Season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine and Turn off the heat.

Spoon the pasta into a serving dish. (it helps if its microwave friendly). Now toss the grated cheese on top and heat for 30 secs in the microwave till the cheese is melty. Season with mixed herbs and serve!

P.S. You could add in the juice of 1 lemon in the final stage of seasoning to make it more tangy.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto

When we think of pesto the first thing that comes to mind is the Basil pesto. But pesto has now become a generic term for anything that is made by pounding ingredients in a mortar and pestle. So the original form – the basil one, is now called Pesto alla Genovese. (That will always remain my favourite, but I am not won’t of trying other versions to increase my repertoire of dishes.) The other popular one’s are the Red bell pepper pesto and the Sun dried tomato pesto. I always work with what I have in the fridge at any given point in time – and yes Bell peppers it was. Pestos as you know are super easy to make and keep well in the fridge under a layer of olive oil. So it’s always wise to make more than you need and pack away the rest in the fridge. When one dish has more than a couple of uses, it climbs the ladder of success pretty fast. (i.e. I make it more often and stash it in the fridge – Don’t you think that’s the epitome of success for an ingredient? :P) I use this one on baguette’s as a spread, as a dip for taco’s or toasted lavash and crudites and as an easy sauce for pasta. So keep this one handy – to impress your guests or to fill your belly on a hungry jam packed weeknight.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pesto

Prep time: 5 mins

Roasting time: 20-25 mins

Makes: 1 cup

What you need:

3 large Red Bell Peppers, seeded and cut into eights

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

3 large Garlic cloves

½ cup Cashews lightly toasted

1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

¼ cup fresh Basil

Salt and freshly ground Black pepper to taste

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Place the bell peppers on a lined baking tray and brush lightly with a little olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven for 20-25 mins., turning once or twice till the skin is blackened. (I use the top rack). Remove from oven, place in a ziplock bag (or bowl and cover with plastic film). When the capsicum has cooled, peel off the skins. (The zip lock bag helps seal in the moisture and helps in removing the skins easily.)

Place the roasted cashews, peppers, remaining oil and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend to a paste. (I like it a bit chunky).

Store in the fridge, in an airtight container. (A layer of olive oil on top helps store it longer).

P.S. I topped my pasta with 2 Tbsps of the pesto and some grilled Red pepper slices. Yum.

Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime

I bought a new cookbook (yes, the umpteenth one!) and paid a ridiculous price for it. (Come on, 1000 photos don’t come cheap). I have so many cookbooks that I just stare at the pictures and sing myself a foodie lullaby. So this time I was determined to cook something from the new book, just so that I can redeem the guilty feeling of not having used it at least once! I admit that the reason I even made this recipe is because the color looked so gorgeous. Bright orangey red! And the fact that there was lemon rind in the recipe didn’t hurt either. I think Lemon rind adds a zing that is unmatched by anything else (Ok, maybe Basil). I must warn you that this soup is not some soothing balm before you start the meal. It’s more like a jolt that wakes you up and gets your belly fire started. Hot and Tangy, I give you Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime!

Red Bell Pepper Soup with Lime

Prep time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 4 (but I think it’s more like 6)

What you need:

1 tsp Olive Oil

4 Red Bell peppers (seeded and chopped)

1 large Onion, chopped

4 Garlic cloves, crushed

1 small Red Chili, sliced

3 Tbsp Tomato Puree

1 Lime (Juice and the rind grated)

3 ¼ cups Vegetable/ Chicken Stock

Salt and Ground Black Pepper

To Garnish: shreds of lime

What to do:

Heat the oil in a pan over low heat. Add the peppers and onion, cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, for about 5 mins until softened. Toss in the garlic and chilli, stir. Add the tomato puree, sauté. Add half the stock and bring to a boil. Cover the pan again and simmer for 10 mins.

Leave to cool slightly, and then ladle the soup into a food processor or blender. (In batches, if necessary). Process to a puree. Return it to the rinsed out pan. Stir in the remaining stock, the lime rind and juice and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Bring the soup back to the boil, then ladle it into warmed soup bowls. Sprinkle each bowl with a few shreds of lime rind and a few drops of extra virgin olive oil. Serve immediately.