Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Soup

Getting back home after a whole day of doing nothing, thinking nothing and generally having a great time...I was in no mood to make dinner. Add to this a recently acquired set of soup bowls, cold December weather and my general inability to compromise on food, ever. The answer had to be a hot bowl of soup. Soup I can sip from my new soup bowl, on my bed.

To continue on the weekend theme of not thinking, I wanted this to be simple. I know, I have a reputation, my simple isn’t everyone else’s simple. Especially in the kitchen. But trust me on this.


All the effort needed was some rough cutting and chopping. Put everything in the oven for roasting while I sat and relaxed in front of the TV (Ok, now I am lying. Truth was fighting with Husband to change channels, but it does give a nice mental picture doesn't it?)


 

Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Soup

Ingredients:

Tomato (red, ripe and juicy)    3 Medium sized
Zucchini                                  1 Medium sized
Garlic                                      2 pods
Dried Oregano                        A pinch
Fresh flat leaf Parsley              A pinch
Olive oil                                  ½ Tbs
Salt and Pepper                      To Taste

Method:

Slice the tomatoes lengthwise into 4 or 6 depending on the size.
Peel the Zucchini and cut about 2/3rds of it into cubes. The 1/3, cut into very tiny bits to add to the soup later.
Mince the garlic pods
Keep the tiny bits of zucchini aside. Toss the tomatoes and zucchini pieces together with the minced garlic, olive oil, a pinch of salt and the dried oregano.
Place the tossed tomato and zucchini mixture onto a tray and grill it in an oven for 20 mins. When the tomato skin is slightly charred, take the mixture out and let it cool.
Blend the cooled mixture into a smooth puree.
Add one and a half glass of water to the pureed mixture and bring this to a boil. Add the small pieces of zucchini and let it simmer for around 5 mins. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mince the flat leaf parsley and sprinkle on top before serving. Serve steaming hot with toasted bread.

Now pour it into your favorite soup bowl, sit in front of the TV or on your bed, put your feet up and sip on the soup. Life will uncomplicate itself.

Creamy Spinach Pasta

Each one has their own way of indulging themselves, a good bath, a spa treatment, a weekend trip, shopping, well mine is this: Creamy Spinach Pasta. It might be just something in my mind, but when I eat spoonfuls of this pasta, taking in the aroma of nutmeg and rosemary I feel my spirit is uplifted. All the troubles of everyday life just melt away and I savor the creamy, cheesy, spinachy, flavors of this pasta. I could go on, but I stop here.

Cooking Time: 30 Mins Serves 2 People

Ingredients

1 ½ Cup Pasta, I prefer Fuseli because the sauce gets coated really well in the groves of the pasta
½ Cup grated Cheese (really your choice, use whatever you like or a combination of whatever you have)
½ Cup of sweet corn kernels (I use canned. You will go to hell eating this pasta anyways!)

For Sauce:

4 measuring cups of destalked spinach (if you can get your hands on baby spinach nothing like it)
100 Ml Fresh cream
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups of milk, full fat (need I say anything?)
2 pods of garlic, minced
1 table spoon all purpose flour (maida)
A Pinch of nutmeg (very very little, it is a potent spice)
A Pinch of dry Rosemary (use this sparingly, it can become unpleasant if used in excess)
Salt and Pepper to taste


Ok, so this is how you do it….

Cook the pasta Al-Dente.

Wash the spinach well and drain off all the water. Place in a vessel and add a drop of water and a pinch of salt. It is very easy to over salt spinach (greens of any kind), so add very little. Let the greens wilt, once the spinach is cooked, squeeze out excess water and mince very finely. The spinach has a tendency clump together, so it is very important to mince very finely.

In a large pan, add the butter, as the butter melts add the minced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle.

Add the minced spinach, 100 mls of cream and let it simmer. In the meantime, mix 1 tablespoon all purpose flour to 1 cup of milk. Ensure that there are no lumps

Add the milk and flour mixture along with the rest of the milk to the cream and spinach

Let the sauce simmer, stir constantly in a gentle manner.

When the sauce it slightly thickened (it should from a creamy layer on the back of a spoon), add the corn kernels, nutmeg, rosemary, salt and pepper. Do not add too much of salt as the cheese will add additional saltiness to the dish. Let the sauce simmer for 2 minutes

Layer a baking dish with one layer of sauce, followed by pasta and cheese. Ensure that the last layer is a layer of sauce topped with the cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes or till the top layer is slightly browned.

And then….hmmmm…absolute bliss. Those of you, who thought ice-cream or chocolate were comfort foods, trust me, once you have tasted this, nothing else will stand a chance.

I had a pretty bad day that involved washing vessels, getting rid of garbage and generally bringing the house to order (My maid is out and I miss her!!). I had brought the pasta to work, having had no time at all to do it justice at home. One mouthful of the pasta was all it took for me to forget everything!

Indulgence is all well and good…but tomorrow, tomorrow is another day and I shall endeavor to make it healthier than today (I try, honestly, I do). So, it’s going to be Pesto and I swear, I shall keep off the cream that is leftover from today. Does anyone one of you want to take the remaining cream off my hand?

Pasta Salad

I started this week’s cooking with great gusto in the morning. It is a simple pasta salad (well what do you expect after a weekend of sloth, alcohol, binging and an impulsive decision to write this blog?). So, once I got over my morning’s lethargy, I stated work on my salad only to realize I had nothing but pasta and lettuce at home! I dragged my half-asleep self to a small but sufficiently stocked vegetable shop near my place to get what I need. There are times I actually prefer these shops to large super markets. Not just because they have more character, but also because they “Know their customers” better and actually end up stocking fresher vegetables that get replenished every day.


Well…here goes!

Cooking Time: 7-8 Mins
Serves 4 People (..well 2 if they are greedy)

Ingredients

For salad:

1 Cup Pasta (Penne, Fuseli or any short pasta of your choice)
¼ Cup Cubed Cucumber
¼ Cup Diced Red, Green and/or Yellow Pepper
¼ Cup Sliced Baby Corn
1 Medium Firm Tomato Cubed
½ Cup of mixed Lettuce (torn into bite sized pieces, sliced finely if Iceberg Lettuce is used)

For dressing:

Juice of 1 Lime - Should be around 1 tbs of lime juice)
3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Small pod of garlic minced
1 Tbs Honey (optional)
1 tsp Mustard paste
Sea Salt and Chili Flakes according to taste


Cook the pasta ‘Al-Dente’. I follow the cook time recommended on the cover of the Pasta and it works perfectly. As soon as it is cooked, strain using a colander and let it cool down.

Once the pasta is cooled, toss together all the ingredients for the salad.

Take a bowl and whisk together the ingredients for the dressing until it reaches a smooth and creamy texture.

Pour the dressing over the salad, toss together and serve chilled.

I love being creative with my salad dressing. The basic element of the dressing involves the sour ingredient (lime, vinegar etc) and the fat (Olive oil, salad oil, cream) in the ratio of 1:3. The flavor can then be enhanced using herbs and spices according to ones choice. This salad dressing is something that I have tried and tested over time using any number of different types of ingredients. In fact, I like making a bottle of this dressing and keep it handy in my fridge for times when I get back home late and want to put something together quickly.

And when I came back home that is exactly what I did. I quickly assembled the salad, grilled some bread grabbed my book (Pride and Prejudice - Yeah…yeah…it is the 100th time!). Hmmm…hmmm…is there anything better than a cold salad, warm crunchy garlic bread and a good read? Yummmmy!

If you are taking this for lunch, pack the dressing separately and mix together just before eating.

Tomorrow, I look forward to make my own version of “Creamy spinach pasta”.

The game plan

I love cooking. I am clumsy. I am impatient. I burn food. The milk invariably boils over 2 times out of 3. But, I do like to believe I can create magic in the kitchen. Not always, but I CAN create magic. The only problem is that I don’t follow recipes - most of the time, I do not measure my ingredients - ever! This is my way of chronicling my attempts in the kitchen and creating a list of recipes that I make my way and enjoy.

I begin my journey armed with a mixed bag of cook books, my mom’s extensive scrap book, wonderful resources on the internet and indelible passion for cooking! I will have a theme every week and will cook around that theme each day and post recipies that I love or hate.

For various reasons, not the least of which is that I have a whole lot of it at home, the theme for my first week is - Pasta.

Well...good luck to me!