Homey Mac'n'Cheese with lotsa veggie

Mac n Cheese with lotsa veg

Mr T and I returned from our brief break from sunny and warm Surfers Paradise and was greeted by the wet and freezing cold of M Town.

I was really craving something homey and decide to make mac'n'cheese. It's also Mr T's number 1 comfort food. This is what he would request when he's sick. No Congee for him....

I remember we had this whole head of cauliflower sitting in the crisper section of our fridge that we got at the market nearly a month ago and this long forgotten leek. So thought we'd better use them up now that our oven has been fixed (it was out of commission for nearly 6 months! >.<)

Ingredients (feeds 4 or more)

• 1/2 packet of pasta (I used macaroni coz I like their shape)
• 1 whole head of cauliflower, separated into florets
• 1 leek, sliced finely up to all the edible bits 
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 red capsicum, diced
• frozen green peas (optional and use as much as you like)
• bacon, diced (optional, use as much as you like)
• butter
• flour
• milk
• white wine
• 1 egg
• 1 heaped tablespoon of whole grain mustard
• mixed herbs
• Slap ya'Mama (cajun/chili powder - optional)
• Dukkah (optional)
• cheese (cheddar, Parmesan, mozzarella)
• breadcrumbs (optional)
• Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

Directions

• Season the cauliflower florets with mixed herbs, salt & pepper, slap ya'Mama and Dukkah in a roasting pan (or whatever you'll be making the mac'n'cheese in), place in oven and roast for 20 mins or so, until soften. 
• Cook pasta on stove top per packet direction til 70% ready (under cook them, because they'l cook further in the oven).
• In a large saucepan, over medium heat, fry up the bacon bits over a splash of olive oil, add the leek, cook for 5 mins.
• Add garlic and grated carrots cook for another couple of minutes, add capsicum & frozen peas, keep stirring so they don't stick to pan and everything is thoroughly mixed, season slightly with salt and pepper.
• Pour out cooked pasta and drain.
• In pasta pot over medium heat, make a roux with the butter and flour until it's a nice nutty tan/brown colour.
• Add in milk and white wine, make sure it's NOT bubbling and crack in the egg, keep whisking so it doesn't form a poached egg!
• Season with whole grain mustard and Slap ya'Mama, keep whisking and add in cheese until it's one gooey gooey glob.
• Transfer cooked cauliflower to the saucepan of veggies along with the cooked pasta and mix well.
• Pour the mixture back into the roasting pan and then add in the cheese sauce, top with a sprinkle of breadcrumb to give it that crunchy top 
• Bake for 20 mins until it's golden. 
• DIG IN!!!

Happy 2015

Fresh new year, fresh new start.

My new housemate Ms Romantica once told me when she first moved in that Pasta with Vongole was one of her favourite meals. Ever since that conversation a couple months ago, I've had Vongole on my mind. So for our first meal together in 2015 I decided to make this delicious pasta dish with fresh clams from the market.

 

Spaghetti alle Vongole

 It was really simple with just a few choice ingredients, but the end result was stunningly. I can definately see why this is one of her favourite dishes, I think it's become one of mine also.

So here's what I did:

 

Serves 4. Time: 15 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg Vongole
• 1 package dry spaghetti (or any pasta of your preference)
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Cherry tomatoes
• Chili (I used both powder and dried)
• Splash of white wine
• Juice and Rind of 1 lemon
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper
• Butter
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

 

• Heat up your pan, add olive oil and butter and then garlic
• Add cherry tomatoes and vongole (make sure they were rinsed and toss out any opened ones)
• Add wine and cover pan, cook for 5 mins and then check
• Cook spaghetti in boiling salted water as directed on package
• Once all the vongoles are opened, stir in chili and lemon rind and juice, add the cooked spaghetti and some of the cooking liquid so there is a little sauce in the pan.
• Season to your liking
• Turn off heat and toss in chopped parsley
• To serve top with parmesan cheese



Prawns and Snowpeas pasta in a zesty yogurt sauce

This is a great dish when you're short on time on a warm night. The zesty yogurt sauce is appetizing, light and creamy. In another word....PERFECTAMENTE!

Creamy Zesty Light pasta with Prawns and snow peas

I love this dish so much! Basically my friend Squishy showed me two different pasta dish and I thought it would be perfect to combine them. Here's what you will need.

Ingredients:

• Pasta
• Prawns
• Snow peas
• Cherry tomatoes
• Chili
• Parmesan cheese
• Small Tub/cup of Greek yogurt
• Half a lemon ( Zest & juice)
• Garlic
• Basil
• Dill
• Salt & Pepper
• Butter
• Olive oil
• White wine

Directions

• Cook pasta per direction. I used spaghetti but use whatever you like. Same same.
• Heat oil in pan, add the butter to melt then add the garlic, cook til golden and add the prawns
• Toss in the tomatoes and snow peas, add some fresh herbs (I put in dill and basil), add a dash of white wine and chili and add the pasta to toss through. You can actually stop here and have a yummy pasta dish (this was one of the recipes)
• If you wanna try something new - empty of the tub of Greek yogurt into salad bowl, add zest of half a lemon plus the juices, salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese
• Combine everything together and top with more cheese. Trust me it's so good, even my Italian flatmate was impressed ;)

Everything Pasta

I remember having some really simple pasta at Cafe Sopra and loved it. So thought I'll give it a go.

Found some Broccolini at the supermarket, so I wanted to build my flavours from there.

And who can say no to Bacon (I could be the president of the I <3 bacon fanclub) and now for some colours, added grape tomatoes, olives and for texture danish fetta.

This is pretty yum, I made it again the week after for my vegetarian bf and sadly had to omit the bacon :( *sigh*

Left Overs and Whatnot

So for the lovely Ms Neverthlands farewell back to the US of A, I made a hasty dinner for a group of us to say goodbye. Lucky it was the Monday after Earth Hour weekend, with plenty of left overs from the bbq we had (which was great fun! Totally doing it again in 2012~)

So I toss some pre-marinated drumsticks in the oven to grill, while I concentrate on pasta that I throw together with whatever I could find in the pantry. Also there's a Waldorf salad - plenty of food for 5.

For the pasta, I had some left over sausages, tomoatoes, parsley, onion, garlic, chili and capsicum.

Fettuccine Puttanesca

Dr Rats was hanging out one night and flipping through various magazines I had lying around and found this one that featured on some great Pasta dishes (Yes even my magazines are food-centric!). Initially she talked about making the great looking prawn pasta for me, and I readily agreed to be her test subject. But she's too busy testing on real rats to be cooking. So it's left to me again. as per usual.

I was more intrigued by the Puttanesca sauce, I've made it back in my college days and thought I could upgrade it. There's the Origin of the Puttanesca sauce that version (as they are many versions, as with most things) claims it was first put together for a bunch of prostitutes (Italian - Puttana) who visited a restaurant late one night after closing and the chef there didn't have anything left to put a proper meal together and so just went through what was available in the pantry and ta-da!

My version consist of: Garlic, Onion, Feta, Basil, Chili, Capers, Anchovies, Olives and cherry tomatoes. Not quite what's readily available in everday pantry, but it was great :)

Everything Spaghetti Marinara

I couldn't really decide what I wanted for dinner tonight, so I just rummaged through my pantry, fridge and freezer and see what I could come up with.

There was less-than-half a package of pasta left lying in the bottom of my cupboard looking very sad, and I really can't say how long it's been there for (less than 3 months though). So pasta it was.

I had some canned tomatoes, light cream and pesto on hand...so instead choosing 1 type of sauce, I'll just add everything together! So much less thinking. It turned out really well actually, my other taster said it was great and will be having some for lunch tomorrow. So Yay! Go me and my non-thinking, impulsive cooking.

Everything Spaghetti Marinara

Ingredients

• Pasta
• Onion
• Garlic
• Tomato
• Mushroom
• Frozen Peas
• Frozen Seafood Mix
• Chilli flakes/ powder
• Mixed Herbs
• Can of Diced Tomato
• Pesto Paste
• Light Cream
• Salt & Pepper