Spaghetti with Home-Made Sausages & Basil Tomato Sauce

Today it was that kind of a day when my pantry was almost empty & for this reason I didn't feel like cooking. I love veggies and generally meat is barely there as side dish :) Therefore, without vegetables I didn't have too many options.

It's surprising how half a packet of pasta, a can of tomatoes and two home-made sausages (c) by my mother can get you out of the woods.

So if in doubt, cook Italian. You will never go wrong :)

Spaghetti with Home-Made Sausages and Basil Tomato Sauce

Type of cuisine: Italian/Low fat

So hungry! No time for food styling.

Ingredients

half a packet of pasta (spaghetti)

two home-made sausages (I love you, mum) 

For the tomato sauce you will need

a can of tomatoes

basil & rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

a pinch of salt

a pinch of brown sugar

1/4 cup of warm water

Method

Boil the pasta. Simmer the sausages. My mother's sausages aren't supposed to be fried. They are made of beef and packed with herbs. They are amazing! I wish I could make them myself and post them on the blog :)

To make the tomato sauce, fry the garlic in olive oil and add the can of tomatoes & the water. Add the sugar and season with salt. Sprinkle the chopped rosemary and the basil, if they are fresh, all the better.  Let it simmer for around 20 minutes. 

Slice the two sausages and finally set up the dish: the pasta, the sausages and the tomato sauce. Delicious. 

Pasta with tomato sauce is a staple in my kitchen and one of my favourite pasta dishes. Goes well with garlic bread, Parmesan cheese and red wine. For dinner. :) 

Skinny Carbonara

When I think of Italian cuisine, I think of comfort food. And when temperatures go down at a dangerously low level, is there anything nicer than pasta in a white creamy sauce with garlic bread? I am drooling already dreaming of spaghetti carbonara...yet cooking Italian is a challenge for me. How can I enjoy a great dish without feeling guilty and having second thoughts about it and yet preserving the unmistakable taste of  the original?  I am not into hardship and magic diets (that don't work and make you sick ://), but it really pays to try, sample, test, and adjust recipes to suit your needs.

This is my version of skinny Carbonara, usually made with all the good things :) - eggs, full-fat cream, butter, and cheese. I will keep none of them, but I promise I won't alter its creamy taste and delicate consistency.

Skinny Carbonara  

Type of cuisine: Italian/Low Fat

Ingredients 

(for 2 persons)

half a packet of pasta (spaghetti no.7)

a handful of blanched sweet peas (fresh or frozen)

4-5 cloves crushed garlic 

a small branch of fresh rosemary

2 slices of cured ham

3/4 of a cup of low-fat cream (15% fat)

1/4 of a cup of warm water

1/2 cube of organic chicken/vegetable cube dissolved in warm water (or a pinch of salt)

2 tbs of olive oil 

Method

Boil the pasta in salty water.

Blanch the sweet peas.

In a small bowl mix the cream with the warm water and dissolve the vegetable or chicken cube. 

Slice the ham finely, crush the garlic.

Fry the garlic and rosemary in olive oil, add the ham and then the cream. Let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Don't oversimmer as the cream will break. However, if that happens, you can easily fix it by adding more cream to it. :) 

Drain the pasta and mix it with the sauce. 

Easy peasy, right? No need for eggs, butter, or double cream and still it's a gorgeous creamy dish that is very light on your system, especially if you decide to cook it for dinner. 

Generally, I am weary to order carbonara when I go out, but at home it's a different story. Finally, it's an amazing dish that goes well with garlic bread and a glass of red. 

As you may have guessed, my garlic bread is also in low-fat category: I brush it with a paste of crushed garlic, extra virgin olive oil and Italian herbs. Delicious. *drool* 

Spaghetti Primavera with Pine Nuts & Sumac

Spring is a short season so you must act accordingly and spring into action (!). Fresh veggies and herbs are, on one hand, easily available and plentiful, and on the other hand, healthy and packed with vitamins and nutrients that we lacked in during the winter months.

I haven't blogged as much as I have cooked (obviously), otherwise you would have discovered a sudden OCD streak in me this season: all green stuff... (and I'm not talking about money)  :)
I have cooked many Italian lunches/dinners lately... I have a love/hate relationship with pasta. I hate Carbonara, Bolognese, canelloni, lasagna, and other way of cooking pasta using minced meat, heavy cream, bechamel sauce and extra hard cheese. :/
However, the dish I love the most is Spaghetti Primavera- or it could also be Spaghettoni, Fusilli, Penne, Rigatoni, or Bow Ties in a light dressing made with olive oil, herbs and lemon, and with fresh, almost-raw stir-fried veggies.

My Spaghetti Primavera with Toasted Pine Nuts and Sumac

Type of cuisine: Italian/Vegetarian/Low-Fat

Difficulty: easy

Cooking time: 15 -20 min preparation time/10 minutes cooking time

250 gr of pasta

2 carrots

1 zucchini 

a small bunch of orach

2-3 spring onions

10 wild garlic (aka ramson) leaves

a small bunch of spinach

2 cloves of garlic

a small branch of rosemary

a handful of pine nuts 

basil 

sumac

freshly ground black pepper

salt

extra virgin olive oil

freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation

Boil the pasta in salty water with a dash of olive oil and a handful of basil. 

Boil the spinach in salty water, drain (and chop roughly).

Boil the orach and drain.

Peel the carrots as if you were making vegan-style raw carrot spaghetti. Do the same with the zucchini.

Chop the spring onions and the wild garlic leaves.

Toast the pine kernels. 

Method

Once you have everything chopped up and at hand, you can almost start calling that dinner's ready.

Fry the garlic and the rosemary in olive oil. Stir-fry the zucchini and the carrots for a minute or two until they become soft. Add the pasta and toss. Squeeze some lemon juice and add the spinach and the orach. I like to separate the leaves individually (even though it's time-consuming and a bit boring) so that they won't bunch up and turn into big lumps. Toss.
Finally add the spring onions and the wild garlic. I like them raw.

To decorate grind some black pepper over the plate, sprinkle some sumac and top with toasted pine nuts. You could also use pumpkin seeds, toasted sunflower seeds, walnuts- the sky is the limit.. though be discerning and sample before embarking on anything fancy :)

The beauty of Spaghetti Primavera is that this dish is so versatile and easy to make. Don't be deterred by how many ingredients you will need. The list is open. If you don't have wild garlic, maybe you can use sweet peas instead, and so on. Let your creative juices flow and make the most of what these beautiful spring months have to offer. I am sure you will love this dish: it has many textures and it is the perfect candidate for a light lunch or a guilt-free dinner.

a view from above

Sicilian Orange Cake with Caramelized Apples

It all started with an orange and 4 small apples. I was meaning to make Julia Child's Tarte Tatin, but

* I was craving for vitamin C 

and 

* I didn't have puff pastry in the house

so I decided to mix and merge and see what will come out of it.

Baking has never been my strongest suit, I bake mainly simple sponges, brownies and cheesecakes and variations on the same theme. I love creamy puddings, though - Arabian and Indian desserts with lots of honey, pistachios and rose water. *love*

This cake is basically an upside down basic orange sponge packed with vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest. 

Type of cuisine: Fusion/Italian, French


Preparation time: 20 minutes


Baking time: 25-30 minutes/ 150'C

Ingredients

1 big zesty orange

4 small apples

4 eggs

4 tbs of self-raising flour

1 small sachet of baking powder

3/4 cup of brown sugar

100 gr of butter

vanilla

cinnamon

orange peel

 Method

To make the sponge, separate the eggs and beat the whites and the yolks until they become hard. Work in some sugar (4 tbs for the white and 2 tbs for the yolks) and mix till it breaks. 

Pour the egg yolk cream over the whites froth and mix lightly using a silicone spoon. Add some vanilla, cinnamon and grate the peel of the orange. When it comes to taste enhancers, I am generous. I love orange rind and spices. 

In a separate bowl measure 4 tablespoons of flour and mix with the baking powder. Work your fingers through to mix and allow the air to sift through. 

Add the flour to the egg mixture and work in the dough slowly. Squeeze in the orange juice. 

To caramelize the apples, start by peeling and cutting them in thin slices. In a heavier and deeper pan, melt the butter and add the remainder of sugar. When the sugar is caramelized, add the apples, mix and let them cook for 2-3 minutes. (I don't like them very soft and pasty).

Grease a pan and put the apples on the bottom, top with the Sicilian orange cake dough and bake for approx. 25-30 minutes. 

Let it cool and turn the cake upside down.

The orange juice made the cake sooo moist, while the butter made the apples soft and creamy. It was truly delicious. I only had a tiny slice, the rest was shared among my husband, a friend visiting, my parents, and my grandfather.

I think baking is about sharing precious moments like this. Loving people and making them happy. Seeing them smile and letting them know how special they are to us.

orange rind and cinnamon tiny flakes

Mini Pizza in Three Words: Ti Voglio Bene

I wasn't planning on blogging about my mini pizza, but some people "Liked" it on Facebook. Thank you, I love you too :)

Taking a bite of this small slice was like a discharge of flavours: the sweetness from the honey-filled wholesome base, the softness of mozzarella, the sharpness of the blue cheese. All I could say was Ti Voglio Bene Mike, TVB Life, TVB Inspiration!!!

The Base

Whole wheat flour (3/4), white self-raising flour (1/4), salt and linseed. Mix.

In a bowl pour a glass of warm milk, a slice of butter, yeast,  a spoon of honey, 2 spoons of yoghurt.

(If you read my blog, you know that this is my naan recipe). 

The Topping

tomato paste with  basil and a pinch of brown sugar

mozzarella

blue cheese ( a small slice, diced up)

basil (for decoration)

Once you flatten the base to the thickness you wish, apply the tomato paste, add the mozzarella and the blue cheese and spread the basil just before the pizza is sent to the oven.

This uber-easy mini pizza is perfect for a lunch break when time is scarce and there are still many things to-do in the daily planner :)

Thank you for your time reading this little entry and do try this pizza at home.

Ninna nanna marinare...

As promised, here is the Four-Step Prawn Pasta I was telling you about yesterday. This is the dish I usually order whenever I eat out in an Italian restaurant.

I love prawns and sea food. I always buy them fresh and cook them the day I have bought them. They also keep well in the freezer, but really, they taste better fresh. 

I cooked this dish in summer, but it suits any season and the ingredients you need are quite easy to find.

      

Shopping list

~  1 packet of languini, spaghetti or spaghettoni

~  fresh tomatoes or a can of Cirio

~  a bag of baby spinach

~  fresh prawns

~  a tray of mushrooms- for this recipe you'll need a handful though

~ a bottle of white wine

You will also need

fresh garlic

herbs: basil, rosemary, sage, 

extra virgin olive oil

salt

brown sugar

Preparation

Tomato sauce: dice the tomatoes, add the salt, a pinch of brown sugar, garlic, herbs. Reduce.

Pasta: boil in salted water, season the water with herbs and garlic. Your pasta will have a je ne sais quoi yummy taste and if you have guests for lunch or dinner they will all want to know the secret!

Prawns: shell them first, wash them and toss them in freshly crushed garlic and sweet paprika (to enhance their 

beautiful colour), then stir-fry them for a minute. Set aside to cool.

Method

In a separate wok fry the mushrooms, let them brown & soften and then add the prawns and the spinach. 

Add some white wine (the rest, keep chilled in the fridge).

Incorporate the pasta and mix lightly.

Before serving, add a couple of spoons of your own tomato paste and serve with the chilled wine. 

Just a thought...

Never use ready-made ketchup when you make pasta. It tastes foul. Always try to go for local, natural, sustainable ingredients.

When you go shopping for wine, do your homework and read about different wine regions and grapes. In the supermarket, take your time and read the labels. Don't go for the cheapest wines, but not for the top of the range either unless you are a fin connaisseur. The best discoveries are middle-of-the-road price wise. 

Romania produces excellent reds, but also whites.  For this dish I would go for a wine called Frunza Chardonnay. It's a fresh wine with undertones of vanilla, prunes and acacia.  Serve chilled and don't mix it with soda to make spritz.

Wine gives me a slight headache, so I never have more than half a glass, but the upside is that I have a clear head and I get to assess the textures and the bouquet of each sip. :)

Ninna nanna marinare is a verse from Pink Martini Ninna Nanna song. It means "sleep, sleep sailor" and it goes on like this.

On the boat, in the middle of the sea

I speak to you, but you don't answer

You are lost in your dreams

Three-Step Pasta

Fresh, quick to prepare, cheap and healthy are the main attributes of this pasta dish-for-beginners. Because, yes, when it comes to cooking Italian, I am a mere beginner.

I enjoy food, hence this blog, but I am more attracted to spices and exotic places than to European cuisines. 

The following recipe is a "Katch-me-up" version of an Italian classic: spaghetti with mushrooms, garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

Type of cuisine: Low-Fat Italian/Vegetarian

Difficulty: easy

Time: 25 minutes

Cost: cheap

Availability of ingredients: medium, if you cook it in winter when fresh tasty tomatoes are hard to get.

Ingredients (for 2 people)

# half a box of  good quality spaghetti or spaghettoni

# a tray of fresh mushrooms

# a bunch of parsley

# spring onions

# 1 small onion

# 5 big tomatoes (or half a can of Cirio diced tomatoes)

# herbs: rosemary, basil, sage

# garlic

# salt and pepper to season

# a pinch of brown sugar (for the tomato sauce)

# a dash of olive oil

STEP 1

Fry the mushrooms and the onion till they become soft.

STEP 2

Make your own tomato sauce: diced tomatoes, herbs, garlic, brown sugar and salt/pepper. Reduce.

In the meantime, boil the water, add salt, drizzle a dash of olive oil, sprinkle some herbs, and throw in the pasta.

STEP 3

Chop the spring onions and the parsley Asian style. Have you noticed that in Chinese restaurants spring onions are cut in large chops and they are added towards the end of the cooking time? 

Well, do so as well! Parsley is full of vitamin C and the spring onions taste better raw, in my opinion. 

Add the spaghetti cooked al dente (firm, but not hard), the parsley and the spring onions and toss.

LUNCH TIME
Dish it on a plate, add three or four large spoons of tomato sauce and enjoy!

Don't know why, I am in an Italian mood today. I was actually planning on writing about a simply delicious Indian vegetarian dish, but I changed my mind at the last minute.

My next entry will be...

If you have enjoyed the Three-Step Pasta, you will certainly love my Four-Step Prawn Pasta. Till then, chill out and dream of far-away places, a deserted white beach, clear green seas, half a glass of chilled white wine, and somebody to share all this with...

Naan. Nan. Nang ... and a slice of history

Naan bread reminds me of... Saudi Arabia. It's because I had it there so many times, either in private homes or restaurants. I must admit, home-made naan bread is much better than the one served in restaurants. It's softer, creamier, sweeter.
There are many Naan recipes that you can find either online or in Indian cookbooks, but here is my version.

Naan with honey and onion seeds

What you need:

3 cups of white flour

1 slice of butter

3 big spoonfuls of yoghourt

1/4 cup of warm full-fat milk

15 g fresh yeast

a spoon of honey (for extra sweetness)

a pinch of salt

garlic

onion seeds

extra virgin olive oil (for moisture)

Method

1. Dissolve the yeast in warm milk and melted butter and honey, mix lightly. Add the yoghourt and let it rest for a couple of minutes.

2. In a deep bowl, mix the flour, salt, garlic (freshly grated or powder), onion seeds.

3. Pour the dissolved yeast (no. 1) onto the flour and knead till the dough becomes smooth. Let it rest in a warm place.

4. When it raises and doubles in volume, you know it's baking time. You can now be as creative as you wish and shape the naan in a variety of forms. You can take a small ball of dough and flatten it and make small naans, or you can make tamis style.
Put it in the oven (@ 200 degrees Celsius) for 5 minutes- watch them, they bake and swell quite quickly.

Options

Because naan is eaten hot with curries, dips (raita, chutney), or tarkha dahl, you probably won't have the chance to use all the dough. So, wrap it tightly in plastic foil and let it snooze in the fridge.

You might want to.... revamp it later! :)

Here is my Naan...a l'italienne.

So I came back home late the other night and I wasn't in the mood to fix dinner or make something special.  As I looked in the fridge, I found the rest of the dough and asked my husband: would you fancy a pizza?
Although he said that naan would definitely not rhyme with Italian, I decided to give it a try and make a Naan...pizza. Call it fusion!

Method

I flattened the dough and once I had a thin base I brushed it with olive oil.

I opened a can of diced tomatoes from Cirio (http://www.cirio.co.uk)- they are very handy especially in winter- and I added some Camargue salt with basil, a pinch of rosmary and a clove of garlic.

I brushed the pizza with the tomato sauce and I sprinkled the grated mozzarella, then I finely sliced a green pepper and some slices of salami. I used Salam de Sibiu, the original. (http://www.sibiusalami.com)

source: www.phoneline.ro

After less than 10 minutes in the oven we had a surprisingly delicious meal, accompanied by a glass of Prahova Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Well, a sip or two on my part and more for Mike.

Food for thought
I find that sometimes when you are a bit adventurous in the kitchen and you are not afraid to experiment and sample ingredients, you can make amazing discoveries. Well, sometimes you make amazing mistakes as well :) but intuition and common sense can save you from kitchen disasters.
For my naan I used milk instead of water and honey instead of sugar. I think that gave my naan bread an extra wow factor. It was so sweet, tender and velvety.

Salam de Sibiu is one of oldest Romanian brands which has survived Communism and managed not to be swamped up by other similar products, even though the competition is fierce. I wonder if people outside Romania  have heard of this brand of salami or if they have ever tasted it? Don't want to use my blog to boast its taste, flavour  or qualities (just because I am Romanian), but it's really good! So good that on the Romanian market alone there are many (cheaper) versions of Salam de Sibiu. But they are, as I just said, mere copies.
If you want to read more about Salam de Sibiu, check out this link: http://www.sibiusalami.com/history.html