Spinach Pasta and Black pepper shrimp

Hope u guys had a wonderful long w/e.. Mine was busy celebrating my SIL's birthday and then cooking...My heart felt thanks for all the participants in FIC event...

Spinach pasta was originally prepared by Indira of Mahanandi. Basically it is basil and spinach combo with pasta.. I didn't have basil so i omitted it.. It tasted different.. I have to try it with basil...Lets see the ingredients..




Ingredients:
1 cup of basil and 1 small bunch of spinach ( I didn't use basil)
Medium red onion and tomato - one each, cut into big pieces ( I used white onion)
6 to 8 green chillies and
4 garlic cloves - sliced into big chunks
Half cup of cashews
Salt and peanut/olive oil to your liking (I used corn oil)
Pasta of your choice (I used linguine)

Checkout the original version from Indira's site....

Preparation:

saute all the ingredients in a pan except pasta. Saute till the spinach wilts and the raw smell of the ingredients vanishes..Remove from heat..allow to cool. Use blender to make them into smooth paste. Don't add water, the mixture has to be thick. Heat a teaspoon of oil and pour in the pureed mixture. Stir in half to one cup of water. Have a taste, add salt if needed and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. Meanwhile cook the pasta on boiling water until al dente. Strain and add the pasta to the sauce.. Pasta is ready..


Black pepper Shrimp

Shrimp/prawn is my all time fav.. I tried Black pepper shrimp in a Chinese restaurant.. It tasted so good.. I tried to imitate it with Indian ingredients.. It was 90% close to the original version.. I think there should be a secret ingredient which gives a punch to the recipe...

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked shrimp
1 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp soy sauce
salt to taste

Seasoning:
8 big garlic cloves finely chopped
8 redchilli ground to flakes

Preparation:
Marinate the shrimp with specified ingredients for 3-4 hrs. Heat oil in a pan, add chopped garlic and red chili flakes. Fry for few minutes. Add the marinated shrimp. saute for 5 -7 mts. Shrimp cooks very fast. Don't cook shrimp more than 10 mts (if ur using jumbo shrimp cook accordingly). Once the water is absorbed, the shrimp becomes dry.. Remove from heat.. Serve hot with Sambar or rasam rice...

Ravioli with creamy tomato sauce

I recently found something called won ton wrapper which is mostly used in Chinese cuisine. I thought of making dumpling coz its my favourite appetizer. I was researching abt these wrappers in google, there are loads of things u can do with won tons. I tried out samosa, dumpling crackers and ravioli with wrappers...it was yummy... U can find these wrappers near produces in super market..don't miss it.. u can do lots of snacks !!! The best thing is u can make these and freeze it for later use.. isn't that cool??

I found this ravioli recipe from food network. It was tasty yet simple.. Lemme give a brief introduction abt ravioli!!!

Ravioli (perhaps a diminutive of Italian dialectal rava, or turnip) is a type of filled pasta composed of a filling sealed between two layers of thin pasta dough. The word ravioli is reminiscent of the Italian verb ravvolgere ("to wrap"), though the two words are not etymologically connected.[citation needed]

The filling may be meat-based (either red or poultry), fish-based, or cheese-based. Ravioli can be rectangular, triangular, half-moon or circular in shape. Other traditional Italian fillings include ricotta mixed with grated cheese and vegetables such as spinach, swiss chard, or nettles or they may be a puree made of potatoes, mushrooms, pumpkin, chestnut or artichokes. A version filled with sweet potatoes is popular in contemporary Israel.

Ravioli is often topped with a red tomato-based sauce: though tomatoes were introduced to European botanists in the 16th century, tomato sauce makes a surprisingly late entry in Italian cuisine: in 1692. [1] More delicate fillings are often paired with sage and melted butter, or more rarely with pesto- or broth-based sauces. Cream sauces are foreign to Italian traditional cuisine.[citation needed]

Though the dish is of Italian origin, the oldest known recipe is an Anglo-Norman vellum manuscript from the 1290s.[2]. Sicilian ravioli and Malta's ravjul may thus be older than North Italian ones. Maltese ravjul are stuffed with irkotta, the locally produced sheep's-milk ricotta, or with gbejna, the traditional fresh sheep's-milk cheese.

In Venice, the mid-14th century manuscript Libro per cuoco offers ravioli of green herbs blanched and minced, mixed with beaten egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth, a recipe that would be familiar today save for its medieval powdering of "sweet and strong spices".[3] In Tuscany, some of the earliest mentions of the dish come from the personal letters of Francesco di Marco Datini, a merchant of Prato in the 14th century. In Rome, ravioli were already well-known when Bartolomeo Scappi served them with boiled chicken to the papal conclave of 1549.[4] (Source: Wikipedia)...

Won ton wrappers

A won ton (also spelled wantan, wanton, or wuntun in transcription from Cantonese; the Mandarin pronunciation is huntun) is a type of dumpling commonly found in a number of Chinese cuisines.

Like any other form of wrap, won ton wrappers can be made at home from fresh dough. However, they are typically bought in large semi-cubical blocks of pre-made individual wrappers, with cornstarch dusted between the wrappers to keep them from sticking together. Because the wrappers are quite thin, they dry out within a few hours of opening the package, making them brittle and unusable...

Ingredients:

Ravioli

5 won ton wrappers

water

Filling:

2 tbsp Ricotta cheese

1/4 cup frozen spinach

2 tbsp corn

few piece of shredded chicken

salt & pepper

Tomato sauce

1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup purchased marinara sauce
1/2 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese
Salt and freshly black pepper
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Preparation:

Ravioli

Mix all the ingredients mentioned for filling.

Put 1 won ton wrapper on a lightly floured surface, mound 1 tablespoon of the filling in the center of the wrapper, and brush the edges with water. Put a second wrapper over the first, pressing down around the filling to force out the air or fold the won ton in triangular shape, seal the edges well, and trim the excess dough around the filling with a decorative cutter or sharp knife. Make won ton ravioli with the remaining wrappers and filling in the same manner, transferring them as they are formed to a dry kitchen towel, and turn them occasionally to let them dry slightly.
Bring a kettle of boiling salted water to a gentle boil and in it cook the ravioli for 2 minutes, or until they rise to the surface and are tender. (Do not let the water boil vigorously once the ravioli have been added). Transfer the ravioli as they are cooked with a slotted spoon to a dry kitchen towel or paper towels to drain and keep them warm.

Tomato sauce

Meanwhile, bring the marinara sauce to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisking often. Whisk in the ricotta and enough reserved cooking water to thin the sauce to desired consistency. For a thicker sauce, use less pasta water; for a thinner sauce, add more water. Return the sauce to a simmer. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.
Spoon 3 tablespoons of sauce over the bottom of each of 6 bowls. Arrange the ravioli over the sauce. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the ravioli. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and the basil, and serve.

Twirls and shells in Spicy Tomato sauce

I had mixture twirls and shell pasta for long time in my pantry. I found this recipe in Mahanandi Indira's Bog. If Zlamushka re-announces T&T Mahanandi, I would have loads of recipes to send.. This recipe is perfect combo of Indian and Italian cuisine...I did make few changes in the recipe to accommodate my taste...The most attractive part in this recipe was, imitating Rachel ray...Pls check out the recipe here... (U will know what i am saying!!!)


Ingredients:

2 fistfuls of thin spaghetti (I used Twirls and shells)
2 pints of cherry tomatoes (i used 4 Roma tomatoes)
4 garlic cloves
5 dried red chillies
1 teaspoon of cumin
¼ cup of watermelon seeds and chironji (sara pappu, charoli) ( I didn't use it)
Olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:



Place a big sauce pan and fill it with water. Add salt and olive oil to season the pasta. Once the water starts boiling. Add pasta, cook for 5-7 mts or al dente. Remove, strain and reserve..

Grind Tomatoes, garlic, red chilies, salt and cumin to a fine paste.

Heat olive oil, add one or two chopped garlic. This when u have to add water melon seeds, if u are using it. saute them till golden and add the spicy tomato paste. Add 1 cup of water. Cover and cook for 15 mts.

Transfer the pasta to serving bowl and pour the tomato sauce on top. Garnish with cheese!!!!

Garden Twirls pasta-Indian way!!!!

I am not big fan of pasta..Trying to eat healthy, so tried new wheat pasta to reduce calories...nothing compares to the taste of rice and sambar..no other go..to maintain healthy life style need to sacrifice rice!!!!...I try out different recipes with wheat, ragi and other grains.. not bad some dishes tastes very good.I tried pasta like upma it came out very well. I used prego pasta sauce instead of tomatoes..

Ingredients:

1 packet garden twirls pasta (Ur choice)
1 onion
2 greenchillies
1 cup prego pasta sauce
1 tsp ginger garlic paste
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp pepper powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

Preparation:

Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add and cook pasta until al dente usually for about 5 to 10 minutes or as specified in the packet. Drain the pasta.

Heat oil in a pan, do the seasoning with cumin seeds. Add onion and green chillies. Fry till translucent.Add ginger and garlic paste.Saute for couple of minutes.Add prego sauce and let it simmer. Add garam masala to the mixture.Cover cook for 2 mts.Add the drained pasta to the sauce and mix well. sprinkle pepper powder and cilantro..serve hot!!!

Thanks Trupti for passing me two lovely awards " Adorable blog" and "The amazing blog". Thanks once again for sharing with me!!!