Penne in a Creamy Pesto Sauce with Fresh Mozzarella, Grape Tomatoes n Chicken

Orchids, is my favorite restaurant in Chembur, Mumbai (that's where I'm from) and I really miss their food. I had a lot of favorites and I remember taking an awful lot of time to order as it was really difficult to choose one dish over the other. I love the choice of Italian food and one dish I ate often was the Pasta alla Genovese. This is one of the most popular Italian sauces, basically fresh pesto tossed with warm pasta. Their version was so creamy with lots of chicken.

This is my version of that dish and though not the same, it's just as creamy, rich n delicious.

Spaghetti with Chicken Meatballs

This weekend was a dull one, with nothing planned, we spent it at home just lazying around. For the first time I didn't even cook anything, we survived on bread and some leftovers from the week before. 
The meatball marinara is my favorite sandwich from Subway, but I've never had spaghetti and meatballs. Since I've decided to give up red meat (atleast for now), I thought of making chicken meatballs. It was different, but delicious!! Be very careful to not overcook the meatballs, that is the most difficult thing about this very easy recipe!!. The meatball recipe is adapted from here. Its really simple and you could even serve the meatballs as a starter, its really yumm. Enjoy!

Spaghetti with Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs: 

(Yields about 20 meatballs)

1tsp oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 lb minced chicken

1 large egg

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 big cloves of minced garlic

1tsp pepper powder

2tsp dried oregano

salt to taste

For the sauce:

1tbs olive oil

2lbs ripe red tomatoes

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2tsp red chilli powder

1tsp pepper powder

1-2 tsp sugar

1tbs dried basil

salt to taste

1lb spaghetti

Grated Parmesan and pepper flakes for garnishing

Method:

Both the meatballs and sauce could be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator or in the freezer for a longer time. 

For the Meatballs:

Preheat the oven to 400F. Line a baking tray with foil. Coat with non-stick spray.

Heat oil in a pan and saute the onions on medium heat just until transparent. 

Remove from heat and add to the chicken mince. Add all the other ingredients and mix with a fork just until combined.

Lightly grease your palm and shape into small balls. Place on the tray and bake for 15-20 mins till done.

For the sauce:

Blanch the tomatoes and peel off the skin. Chop roughly. 

Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Fry the garlic till aromatic and golden.

Add the tomatoes, chilli powder & pepper powder and cook for about 10-12 mins. Crush the tomato as you stir. When thick, add the sugar and salt and stir for 1min.

Cool and pulse in a processor to make a sauce. Add the dry basil and check seasonings.

This sauce can be stored in the refrigerator, re-heat as needed.

To Assemble:

Heat the sauce and meatballs together on low for a few mins. Add some water if too thick and adjust the seasonings.

Cook the spaghetti according to package instructions. Drain and arrange in a dish. Top with the meatball mixture. Sprinkle fresh Parmesan, pepper flakes or other Italian seasoning and serve hot.

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Sending this to Presto Pasta Nights # 107 hosted by Ruth

and to Sanghi's FIL - Tomato event.

Farfalle with Chicken Curry going to Presto Pasta Nights # 106

Aquadaze of Served with Love is hosting the 106th instalment of Presto Pasta Nights. I had so many ideas of what I wanted to send, but unfortunately I couldn't get around it. So sending one of my archived entries to this wonderful event.

Farfalle with Chicken Curry

Penne in Cheese Sauce

Ingredients: (serves 2)

150gms penne or other pasta

2tbs butter

2 1/2tbs all-purpose flour

2cups milk

1/3-1/2cup cheese (I used medium cheddar)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2cup sweet corn kernels

1 big capsicum, cut into 1" strips
1 tomato, cut into 1" strips

salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of nutmeg
1 tsp dried basil

2-3tbs grated Parmesan cheese( for garnish)

Method:

Cook the penne as per pack instructions. When the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce and vegetables. 

Heat the butter in a pan on low heat. When it melts add the flour and fry for 1 minute. Take care that the mixture does not brown.

Add the milk gradually, stirring constantly. Ensure that there are no lumps, use a wire whisk if necessary.

Return to fire and cook till the sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. 

Remove from fire and add the cheese and mix well. Season with salt and pepper and nutmeg and keep aside.
Heat 1tsp oil in a pan. Toss in the garlic and vegetables and stir fry for a few minutes till tender. Add the sauce, pasta and basil and mix well.
Serve hot garnished with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.

Farfalle with Chicken Curry

Ingredients:

200gms farfalle or any pasta

250gms boneless chicken, cut into tiny pieces

1tbs lemon juice

2tbs oil

2 cardamoms

4cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick

1 big onion, finely chopped

1/2cup tomato puree

2tbs ginger-garlic paste

1tbs coriander powder

2tsp red chilli powder or to taste

1/4tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2cups water

salt to taste

2tbs coriander leaves, finely chopped

1tsp dried red chilli flakes

Method:

Cook the pasta as per instructions. 

In the meantime mix the chicken with lemon juice and salt and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and fry for 30secs.

Add the onions and saute till golden. Add the ginger-garlic paste and tomato puree and cook till thick. 

Add the masalas and fry for 1min. Add the chicken and fry for 2-3mins. Then add the water, salt and bring to boil. Cook on medium heat till the chicken is tender.

If the gravy is too thin then thicken with about 1tbs cornflour mixed in 2-3tbs water and cook for a minute.

Stir in the coriander leaves.

When the pasta is done, drain well and place on a serving dish. Top with chicken curry and sprinkle some chilli flakes. Serve hot.

Tangy Pasta with Vegetables

For Manoj and I, dinner on Friday just has to be something something other than the regular roti and rice, sort of like a prelude to a long and relaxed weekend.

This time. there was some left-over garlic bread so a pasta dish seemed like the best choice. I used store bought pasta sauce, makes it a ton easier! I have tried a lot of the brands available and although a lot of them taste great, I now use Trader Joe's Organic Marinara sauce. It has a lot less sodium compared to others, is low fat and does not have a lot of scary ingredients added to it. I did not have any chicken or shrimp in the fridge, and a total vegetarian fare was just not appealing, so I hard boiled a couple of eggs, discarded the yellow and just used the white. You can add a whole lot of vegetables to this, that would make it even better.......

Ingredients :
120gms uncooked pasta
1tbs oil
2 cloves garlic, finely choppped
1 cup pasta sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp pepper powder
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 big zucchini, cut into small pieces
1 capsicum, cut into smallpieces
2 egg whites hard boiled, cut into pieces
grated cheese ( parmesan )


Method :
Cook the pasta as per package instructions. Time this so it cooks just as the sauce is ready, so you can add the pasta directly from the water to the sauce.
In the mean time, heat some oil in a pan. Add the garlic and sautee for 1/2 a min, then add the zucchini and capsicum and cooked egg whites, and sautee on high heat for about 2 mins. Add the tomato sauce, red chili powder, pepper powder and basil and bring to a simmer.
Add the cooked pasta and mix well. Add some pasta water to adjust the consistency of the sauce if needed.
Sprinkle with some grated cheese and serve hot.