Spaghetti Fritters

Last week I was busy baking after a very long time, although I couldn't take any pictures of what I baked.  Wondering why I was so busy in baking ?  Yes, for the first time in India,  I involved myself in some cookies and cakes sale.  So I had some activity to keep me active last week, thanks to Priya for giving me this opportunity.

Broccoli Pesto with Pasta

I followed this recipe from Mary's One Perfect Bite. This is one of her unique style of making pesto with the goodness of broccoli and walnuts. I really enjoyed this pesto with broccoli a lot. You can find the Mary's recipe from here.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Broccoli- Half of 1 whole broccoli
Walnuts- 2 tbsp
Olive oil- 2 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
Garlic- 3 cloves grated
Parmigiano Reggiano cheese- 1 tbsp
Parsley- 1 tbsp chopped finely
Pasta- 300 g
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
Steam the broccoli for 10 minutes. Saves 3 to 4 florets to mix with the pasta, add the remaining to a food processor along with the lemon juice, olive oil, walnuts, garlic and parsley. Pulse it and puree it, as the motor running slowly add the parmigiana cheese and puree it.
  Cook the pasta in boiling water until it's fully cooked. Drain the water completely, toss it with olive oil, add the pesto, salt and pepper, the remaining broccoli and mix it well.

This recipe goes to Bookmarked Recipes by Priya and Aipi, Only Green event hosted by Sara started by Pari of Foodelicious

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Spicy Idly Podi Pasta

This is a very simple and easy to make pasta in minutes any time of the day. It can be a quick breakfast or can be served as a snack in the evening with tea. I got this recipe from one of my friend, they call this as sangu because they make this using shell pasta, you can also use penne pasta or even the small macroni type pasta.

This recipe goes to the event Global Kadai- Pasta hosted by Thayirsaadham originally started by Cilantro.
Since this recipe is been cooked under 20 minutes it also goes to the event Twenty-20 by Niloufer.

Ingredients:

Shell type pasta-1 cup

Idli Podi-1 tbsp

Mustard seeds-1 tsp

Curry leaves-1 stalk

Dried red chilli-2 

Oil-1 tbsp

Salt as required

Method:

Cook the pasta in boiling water, drain and keep separately. Heat oil in a kadai, add mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chilli. When the mustard seeds start spluttering add the idli podi, then add the well drained pasta and stir well until the pasta is completely coated in idli podi, add salt if required. Switch off the flame. Serve warm with chutneys or sambhar.

Pasta Salad

One good thing about pasta salad it tastes good even when it is cold,it's really good for packed lunches and a very light meal.This can be served as starter with bread.
Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked Pasta(any shape)
Olive Oil-1 tbsp
Mayonaise-1/2 tbsp
Red pepper-1/2( finely sliced)
Green Pepper -1/2 (finely sliced)
Yellow pepper-1/2(finely sliced)
Canned sweet corn-2 tbsp
Black Olives-1 tbsp
Ground Black Pepper-1 tsp
Mixed Italian Herbs-1 tsp( Mixed Italian Herbs is a mixture of dried herbs like garlic,basil,red pepper,oregano)
Hot water-1 tbsp
Salt as required
Method
Add the mixed herbs to the hot water and salt and leave it for 5 minutes. Now add oil,mayonaise and black pepper mix it well.Mix the cooked pasta,the herb mixture and the remaining ingredients together,toss it up well so that the pasta gets coated well.Serve it with nice warm garlic bread.

Chicken Tagliatelle

Ingredients:
Tagiatally- 6 swirls
Chicken Stock-1/2 cup
Green pepper-1/2
Leeks-1/2
Milk-1 tbsp
Flour-2tsp
Boneless Chicken-100 gm
Freshly ground black pepper- 1 tsp
Salt-as required
Oil-1 tbsp
Method:
Heat the oil in a pan, in another pan start boiling water. Mince the chicken or cut into very small pieces and fry it in oil, when the chicken is cooked add the chopped leeks to the chicken and sort it for a while. Meanwhile add the tagiatally to the boiling water.Now add the stock to the chicken and leeks after some time add the milk and flour and stir it well. When the tagiatally is cooked add it to the stock mixture and toss the sauce well.Finally add the green pepper,salt and pepper.
Mix it well, serve it hot with some grated parmaesan cheese on top.
Variations:
For vegetarian option leave the chicken and chicken stock, instead use vegetable stock and mushroom.
Tips:
Always try to use fresh homemade stock which gives lots of flavour.
This recipe serves two.