Posts Tagged Pasta

Copycat Lasagna

Posted by blurcheryl in Bake, Lamb, My Cook Book, Pasta on May 27, 2011

Why I made Lasagna:

  1.  I learned of this recipe inspired from watching the Masterchef Australia recently.
  2. Also that box of dry lasagna sheets has been around for more than 3 months at home, without seeing daylight.
  3. I have minced lamb
  4. Recently bought a few bottles of wine
  5. Red wines paired with rich food like this is superb
  6. I am lazy to go out eat
  7. I want to stay home watch TV
  8. Impress my hubby
  9. Still there’s parmesan cheese left

These are some of the ingredients I prepared.

I added the oil cooked shallots and garlic inspired by Masterchef Australia for the meat sauce.

This is the recipe printed on the San Remo Instant Lasagna box.

Meat Sauce
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
60g ham, finely chopped ( omitted)
1 medium onion, finely chopped (substitute with oil cooked shallots)
1 carrot, finely chopped (omitted)
1 stick celery, finely chopped (omitted)
1 clove garlic, crushed (substitute with oil cooked garlic)
500g beef mince (made meatball -lamb and pork)
5 tablespoons tomato paste (subsitute with pasta sauce)
125ml dry white wine (omitted)
375ml water (didn’t really follow)
1 chicken stock cube (own measurement, chicken stock)
salt, pepper and pinch of nutmeg (omitted nutmeg)

Cheese Sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons plain flour
500ml milk
salt, pepper
125g mozzarella cheese (cubed or grated)

Meat Sauce
Heat oil in a medium saucepan, add  and cook gently for 3 minutes. Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is soft. Add mince and cook stirring, until brown.

Stir in tomato paste, wine and water into which stock cube has been dessolved. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cheese Sauce
Melt butter in medium saucepan, stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes over gentle heat. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat and stir until thick and smooth.

Season with salt and pepper, add mozzarella and stir over low heat until cheese melts.
Lasagna
Preheat oven to 180ºC.

Pour 125ml meat sauce into base of lightly greased baking dish. Alternate layers of lasagna, meat and cheese sauces, ending with cheese sauce layer. Sprinkle top with grated parmesan cheese if desired.

My lasagna!

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Bacon and Courgette Aglio Olio

Posted by blurcheryl in 30 minute Quickmeal, Bake, Just Food, My Cook Book, Pasta, Pork, Vegetable on May 19, 2011

Recently I bought a good deal voucher online knowing that the voucher can be utilise for dine-in or getting the meat at the counter. Look at our selections of Chicken Sandwich Ham, Turkey Hams, Honey Glaced Ham, Pancetta, Bacons Affummicata  Cotta, Salami Napoli and Brutwurst Sausages all for the price of RM54.90 only.

Got so excited over those meats, I decided to cook pasta again for dinner. Here’s the ingredients:

  1. Spagetti
  2. Chilli Flavored Olive Oil
  3. Olive Oil Margarine
  4. Feta Cheese with Olive
  5. Courgette sliced
  6. Bird’s eye chilli finely chopped and seeds removed
  7. Bacon Slices
  8. 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
  9. Rock Salt
  10. Chilli Flakes

Bring a large pot of salt water to boil, add a teaspoon of cooking oil and cook the spagetti to ‘al dente’. Follow the instruction printed on the package. Once cook, drain the spagetti but reserved 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.

After that, heat the pan with Olive Oil Magarine add  bacon and the  chopped garlic and brown it. Set aside. With the heated pan cook the courgette until soft, you may add another knob of the margarine/ olive oil if the pan is too dry. When the courgette is cooked, throw in the bacons, garlic, chopped chillis, chilli flakes give it a good quick stir fry. Pour in 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water into the pan, and add the spagetti  and stir thoroughly with all the ingredients. Do not reduce the heat, make sure the water is reduced and add salt to taste, then its done!

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Gorgeous Milky Carbonara

Posted by blurcheryl in My Cook Book, Pasta, Pork, Vegetable on May 16, 2011

This is a healthier version of the usual traditional creamy carbonara spagetti. I substitute the cream with the use of low fat milk for the sauce and it turn out pretty well minus the potential increasing wasteline.

Some might wonder if it may taste bland but its not! Its delicious!! 

The ingredients here for 1 person meal.

  1. Spagetti
  2. 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped/ crushed
  3. 1 egg yolk
  4. 3/4 cup low fat milk
  5. Grated parmesan cheese
  6. Olive oil
  7. Margarine
  8. Salt/ Pepper/ Chilli Flakes
  9. Meat of your own choice.

Boil the salt water in a pot, add a teaspoon of cooking oil and cook the spagetti. Follow the instruction printed on the packet. Once it is cooked, remove the spagetti from the pot and set aside.

Fry the meat, bacon, pancetta or whatever rocks your appetite. I marinated the chicken breast a night before and wrap it in a tin foil before roasting it in the oven. You can make this in advance, especially you are cooking on a workday. Save a lot of time.

To make the sauce, crack one egg, separate egg yolk and egg whites.  You may keep the egg whites but for me I hate to keep things overnight as I always forgot to cook them. So what I did was fry the egg whites and serve it.

For the sauce: Combine milk, egg yolk, pepper to taste, chilli flakes just a bit (optional), a pinch or two of salt, grated parmesan cheese, and whisk everything together. Set aside.

Use a pan, fry the garlic with some olive oil, add spaggetti into the pan just to heat it. Remember to switch off the gas/ fire by now. Add the sauce mixture into the pan, add a knob of magarine. Toss everything quickly and thoroughly and mix until the sauce thickened.

Voila!! Dinner is served in 30 minutes (preparation and cooking time)

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