Pasta in two styles

It was a Friday Dinner time and I thought of making Pasta, that is when one voice at home says "I need a cheesy version" and other says "I need it spicy". This became my motivation for cooking that evening and also restart my blogging again in 2020 :).

Cheesy Carrot, Spinach Italian Style 
Ingredients:
1. Pasta - I used Penne for this recipe. You can chose any style you like - 1 cup
2. Carrot - 1 
3. Tomato - 1/2
4. Garlic - 1 clove finely chopped
5. Spinach - 1/2 cup
6. Milk - 1/4 cup
7. Salt - to taste
8. Olive oil - 2 tablespoon
9. Butter - 1 tablespoon
10. Italian spice mix - 1/2 tablespoon
11. Grated Cheese - 1/4 cup

Preparation

1. Boil 2 cups of water, add little salt and few drops of olive oil, add pasta and cook for 5 to 6 minutes and strain the water
2. Grind carrots, tomato, garlic into a coarse paste
3. Heat butter and olive oil in a pan and add the ground paste
4. When it starts cooking and the raw smell leaves, add milk and continue cooking in medium flame
5. When the sauce starts to thicken, reduce to low flame and add the herb mix and salt and the roughly chopped spinach
6. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and add the pasta and cheese and mix well to coat the sauce

Yummy cheesy carrot spinach pasta is ready to serve hot... Do not shy out to add more cheese :)

Carrot, Spinach Indian Style 

Ingredients:
1. Pasta - I used Penne for this recipe. You can chose any style you like - 1 cup
2. Carrot - 1 
3. Tomato - 1/2
4. Garlic - 1 clove finely chopped
5. Spinach - 1/2 cup
6. Onion - 1/4 cup chopped 
7. Salt - to taste
8. Olive oil - 2 tablespoon
9. Red chilly powder - 1/2 tablespoon
10. Coriander powder - 1/4 tablespoon
11. Garam masala - a pinch
12. Pepper powder - a pinch
13. Turmeric powder -a pinch

Preparation

1. Boil 2 cups of water, add little salt and few drops of olive oil, add pasta and cook for 5 to 6 minutes and strain the water
2. Grind carrots, tomato, garlic and spinach into a coarse paste
3. Heat olive oil in a pan and add chopped onion and saute it for 2 minutes
4. Add the ground paste and cook for 5 minutes in a medium flame
5. Add red chilly powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and salt and cook the sauce until the raw smell leaves
6. Add garam masala, pepper powder & pasta and mix with the sauce well
7. Cook for 5 minutes in low flame

Hot spicy Carrot, Spinach pasta is ready to serve.

Mint-Spinach Paneer/Chicken Kebab

It was heavily raining and we had a tornado warning that evening and I reached home early and both of us wanted to have something spicy and it was time for me to try this recipe and we also ended up naming it "Mint-Spinach Flavored Triple Tornado Grill". On our first camping trip with our friends, I repeated this with Chicken.

Preparation Time: 2 hours for marination; 20 minutes cooking time

Ingredients:

1. Paneer - 250 gms
2. Onion - 1
3. Bell Peppers (Capsicum) - All colors each one
4. Lemon Juice - 2 - 3 tablespoon
5. White pepper - for garnishing

6. Oil - to cook

Marinade:
1. Spinach leaves - 25-30
2. Mint leaves - 4 to 5
3. Coriander leaves - 4-5 stings
4. Green chillies - 2
5. Red chilly powder - 1 tablespoon
6. cloves - 3
7. Cinnamon - 2-3 small sticks
8. Cardamom - 1
9. Bay leaves - 1 small
10. Fennel seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
11. Pepper - 4-5
12. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tablespoon
13. Ginger Garlic paste - 1/2 tablespoon
14. Yoghurt - 3-4 tablespoon
15. Salt - to taste


Preparation:
1. Wash all greens and blend them along with the other ingredients given for marination into a fine paste.

2. Cut paneer,onions and bell peppers into cubes of 1 inch size and gently poke the pieces with a fork, add the paste and mix it well.

3. Keep it refrigerated for 1 - 2 hours.

4. Heat a pan and 2 tables spoons of oil and shallow fry the paneer pieces few at a time for not more than 2-3 minutes. Repeat the process until all the paneer pieces and keep it aside.

5. Pre heat the oven at 350 degrees.

6. Apply oil on the skewers and skew the fried paneers, bell peppers, onoins alternatively as a colorful combination.

7. Place a baking sheet on a tray, place the skewers and cook it in the oven for 7-8 minutes rotating sides at half time.

8. Remove it from the oven, squeze lime juice and sprinkle some white pepper and serve it hot.

Tips:

1. You can try this recipe with Chicken or any other vegetables.

2. If you are planning to try this dish in a camping site, you can skip step 4 and grill it directly. You will have to cook for few extra minutes.