Creamy Pasta Bake

Pasta bakes make a hearty meal that can often be prepared in advance. Hence, a great item on the menu if you have guests coming over. I particularly love to bake a pasta dish over the weekend, which brings the entire family together for a scrumptious and wholesome meal. 

CREAMY PASTA BAKE 

Ingredients:
sweet corn kernels - 1 cup
dried macaroni pasta - 1 cup
green peas - 1/2 cup
carrot - 1 (finely chopped)
capsicum - 1 (finely chopped)
mushrooms - 3-4 (sliced)

oregano - 1&1/2 tsp
bread crumbs - 2 tbsp
cheese - 1&1/2 cups
black sliced olives - handful
salt - to taste
olive oil - 1 tsp

For the sauce:
Flour (Maida) - 3 tbsp
Butter - 3 tbsp
Milk - 500 ml
Salt - to taste
Pepper - 1 tsp

Method:

• In a large pot of hot water, add pasta, corn kernels, peas, oil and salt. Boil till tender. Drain and keep aside. 
• To make the sauce, heat butter in a pan on medium flame until foaming. Add flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Lower the flame, and gradually add milk while continuously stirring with a whisk. Keep stirring till all the lumps have vanished. Now add 1/2 cup cheese and cook till the sauce has started to thicken.
• Add salt, pepper, chopped carrots and capsicum to the sauce. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes, then turn off the heat.

Arranging the pasta:

• In a baking tray, spread the pasta, corn and peas mixture.
• Pour the sauce over it and spread it evenly.
• Now spread the sliced mushrooms, and sprinkle oregano over it.
• Layer grated cheese, olives and bread crumbs, in that order.
• Bake the dish for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 220 degrees; or until the top layer is golden brown.
• Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
• Serve with toasted bread and enjoy the meal!

Alternate Variations:

1. Add chicken breast fillet pieces along with the mushrooms and bake for 30 minutes at 220 degrees.
2. Place boiled, pureed and seasoned spinach paste at the bottom most layer of the dish for a delicious flavour.

Palak Ki Poori

I was about 13 when I first saw round green puffed up pooris being served at a wedding. After 14 years, I tried to make them by myself; only to find out that they are not only easy to make, but delicious and nutritious  too.

Before

After

So, here is the recepie for PALAK KI POORI  (Served best with black chana (chickpea) gravy)

Ingredients:

Palak (spinach) - 1 bunch

Wheat flour - 4 cups

Ajwain (carom seeds) - 1 tsp

Green chilies - 1

Salt - to taste

Oil - to fry

Method:

• Wash the spinach and boil it in half cup water, along with some salt and green chilies  Boil for 5 minutes. Cool it, and grind to form a paste.
• To the flour, add salt, ajwain, and spinach paste. Knead it into a dough. (Add a little water if required)
• Rest the dough for 10 minutes.
• Split the dough in small parts, roll into pooris and fry in hot oil.

Tip for washing the spinach: Immerse the spinach leaves in a large tub of water and leave it for 5 minutes. Any soil in the leaves with settle at the bottom of the tub. Then gently remove the leaves. Preferably, do not cut the leaves while washing, to retain maximum nutrients.