Stuffed Spaghetti Squash- Italian style

I discovered my love for spaghetti squash last Fall (I know, it's the following summer and getting around to blog just now). I'd heard the amazing benefits of this vegetable - one thing being that its low in calories (1 cup = 30 calories) but incredibly satisfying when combined with a variety of flavours. I experimented with two variations of the stuffed squash- Italian and Mexican.  For Italian , think lasagna ingredients (no pasta here obviously) and throw all that into the mix. 

I didn't add spinach but it would be great in this dish.

Ingredients:

-  1/2 cup ricotta cheese 

-  1/4 cup red onion chopped

-  1/2 tsp garlic chopped

-  1/2 cup cooked quinoa

-  marinara sauce

-  1/2 cup peas

-  bunch of cherry tomatoes 

-  1 tsp dried oregano (fresh if in season)

-  1/2 tsp dried basil   (fresh if in season)

-  mozzarella cheese to top.

Method:

1.  First, roast the whole squash in a 400F oven for 30-40 minutes. When it's cooled, cut it lengthwise and scoop out all the inner seeds.

2.  In a large sautee pan, sautee the onions, garlic, tomatoes,  herbs, peas, ricotta and quinoa. Add the marinara and some salt and mix for 10 minutes. Tomatoes do not have to cook down. 

3.  Spoon the filling into the squash.

4.  Top with as much or little mozzarella as you like and bake at 375F for 15 minutes till cheese is melty and bubbly.

Recipeless Pasta Bake

A simple lunch that combines veggies of your choice, pasta and sauce of your choice and mozzarella. Baked in the oven till cheese is ooey gooey!

I went with leftover veggies from the fridge- cauliflower, onion, yellow pepper and grape tomatoes. Lots of black pepper to top.

Vegetarian Lasagna

I don't quite remember when my quest to make a good veggie-friendly lasagna began. Maybe 6 or 7 years ago.. Since then, I've made this dish so many times that its going to be pretty hard to write up a recipe for this but I will try my best. Some of the tips I post, I've learnt along the way either from other lasagna recipes or as feedback from my subjects. ;-)

I like to think that I can cook somewhat good and that includes non Indian dishes..  I never quite got into complex, traditional Indian cooking although that is very slowly changing... I still enjoy trying out recipes from various cuisines. When I lived at home with my parents the lasagna was one dish I had nailed and made for them on a somewhat regular basis. So much so that if we had guests or family visiting from out of town and I wanted to give Mom a break from the kitchen, this was my signature dish.  Funny how something that has so many ingredients became a "go-to"dish...

Back in Calgary, my parents host international musicians visiting from India every once in a while. One such occasion, we were honored and thrilled to have world famous Carnatic violinists-  jovial and enthusiastic Vittal Ramamurthy and lovely and hilarious Padma Shankar. My sister is also a violinist and these artists are two of her teachers and mentors and they were to all perform in a concert together. That alone deserves a post on a music blog because when these 3 violinists get together with some percussion, the music is sensational. Anyhow, one evening after a long day of practice and workshops, I decided to surprise these two with my cooking and made the lasagna and within a couple of bites, got proclaimed by Padma as the Lasagna Queen. And she still calls me that to-date. I'm proud of that fact and I try  to defend that title  the best I can. (Although more recently she got a taste of my nutella cookies and sort of changed my title.. )


The recipe and ingredients are fairly flexible. If you don't have a particular vegetable you can leave it out or substitute with something else.

Ingredients:

-  1 red pepper, chopped
-  1 small onion, chopped
-  2-3 carrots, chopped
-  2 garlic cloves, finely minced
-  1 small zuchini, chopped
-  4-5 mushrooms, chopped
-  1 small tub of ricotta cheese
-  1 pack frozen spinach (thawed) or 2 bunches of fresh spinach
-  Barilla No boil lasagna sheets
-  Jarred pasta sauce
-  2 cups grated mozzarella/parmesan mixture.

Directions:

1.  Mixed veggie filling: Sautee all the veggies in some olive oil until they are soft and tender. Brown the mushrooms first, then add carrots, garlic and finally add zuchini and peppers. When the veggies are al dente, mix with your favourite pasta sauce and add dried herbs like basil or oregano if you like.

2.  Ricotta-spinach filling: Squeeze water out of frozen spinach that's been thawed or cooked fresh spinach and mix with the tub of ricotta.  Add salt and pepper  and/or any other seasoning like fresh herbs.
You don't want the excess water from the cooked spinach as it will end up in a soggy mess. I'm speaking from experience :-(

3.  Spread a liberal layer of pasta sauce at the bottom of 13x9 baking dish and layer the no boil sheets.

4.  Evenly spread the ricotta-spinach mixture and add another layer of the pasta sheets.

5.  Next, layer the veggie mixture and layer on the pasta.

6.  Finally add some more pasta sauce and pile on the mozzarella/parmesan cheese mixture.

7.  Bake at 350 F covered with foil for 30 minutes and then uncovered for another 10-15 minutes until the top layer is golden brown.

8.  Serve right out of the oven!

Healthy Mac N Cheese?

Is there even such a thing?


We all have those days... nothing but a good plate of carbs will do for dinner. Pasta is a big staple in my house and then probably white/brown rice.
Last evening was one of those days when I was struck with a desire to make Mac n cheese. No I'm not a fan of southern food but homemade macaroni with some fresh wisconsin cheese and a light sauce.... sounds good right? Operative word being "light".  It was probably my third attempt ever making mac n cheese and I must say it was a big FAIL.  I had all the ingredients (pasta, milk, butter, spices, cheese) on hand so it seemed like things would work out but nooooo.....


So this is my list of Do's and Don'ts I learnt from yesterday..


- Do NOT use skim milk- It just doesn't work. Use at least 1 or 2%. There needs to be enough fat in the dish for the sauce to be smooth.
- Do NOT use low fat cheese- Again, all I had was reduced fat cheddar and some chipotle jack and my guess is the reduce fat cheese caused the sauce to separate .  You end up with a less than desirable texture. 
Obviously making a health conscious Mac N cheese is not easy .. which ingredients can I compromise on? 
- Do use multigrain or whole wheat pasta- it tastes great with a rich cheese sauce.
- Do add in spices like nutmeg, garlic, smoked paprika...


So if any of y'all in blog land have a relatively healthy recipe for Mac N cheese I'm all ears.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

It's that time of year. The weather is a little nippy out and what better time than to enjoy some homemade soup. Not stuff from a box or a can. Tomato Soup and Grill Cheese. Mmmm. Mmmm. Mmmm. Classic combination. I wish I had thought of making grill cheese the other day when I made the soup. Instead I had made bread pizza with wheat French bread (that was store bought ;-) ).

Tomato soup is so classic.. and roasting the tomatoes with olive oil and fresh garlic really brings out the tomatoey-ness.. sweetness and the acidity. This one is a definite keeper.  And it so hapenned I had a pound or two of tomatoes in my fridge.  It takes a bit of time to roast the tomatoes and to let them cool, but the end result is so worth it.

Rachael (of Rachael Ray fame) would say "You ain't getting that flavour from out of a can".

Roasted Tomato Soup

(Adapted from Ina Garten's recipe)

Ingredients-

-  2 lbs roma tomatoes (that's what I had) cut in half- Vine tomatoes would be great for this too
-  3 garlic cloves cut in half
- Olive oil
-  Basil, preferably fresh
-  Dried thyme
-  Vegetable stock
-  1/2 medium onion
- 1/2 tsp red pepper/chill flakes  (optional)

Directions-

0. Preheat oven to 400 F

1.  Toss the tomatoes and garlic cloves in olive oil (2 or 3 good tablespoons), season with salt and pepper

2.  Roast for about 30-35 minutes.

The come out looking sparkly and begging to be pureed

3.  While tomatoes are roasting, sautee the onions for 5-7 minutes on medium heat. Use a large soup pot or dutch oven.

4. Add the tomatoes to the pot and add thyme, basil and chilli flakes. Save some basil for garnish!

5. Add a couple cups of vegetable stock and some water (depends on how thin you like your soup) and simmer for 10 minutes.

6. Blend the soup mixture.  Garnish with basil and some freshly ground black pepper.

Eat up!! (with or without slurping LOL)

Variations

- Toss roasted goodness over some pasta

- Add a bunch of red or green chillis, puree and turn into a spicy Indian-ized pickle.

Mamma Mia! I made a Tiramisu!

If there is one dessert besides a cheesecake, that captures my tastebuds,  it is the Tiramisu. Simple layers of ladys finger and a mascarpone cream topping finished off with shaved dark chocolate and dusting of cocoa powder. That's it. I have stayed away from attempting to make this for so long because it seemed intimidating. How can something this delicious be easy to make? And I don't consider myself a desert diva or anything... far from it actually. 


But this year for R's birthday I asked him if he would like me to make a Tiramisu instead of a traditional cake or a cheesecake even. I think it was like asking him would you like to go to the Carribean or The Bahamas for vacation. LOL. 


Let me first say this- If you have never tried making a tiramisu but love it, it is so easy to make, that the prep time takes all of maybe 20 minutes. The remaining 6-7 hours is the time it takes to set in the fridge. So yes it involves a bit of planning, not something that can be whipped up at the last minute. (I do have such other desserts for another blog entry).  Oh and not too long ago, believe it or not, I got to taste both my favourite desserts IN ONE SINGLE DISH!!!! I kid you not- The Cheesecake Factory has this most amazing, smooth Cheesecake Tiramisu, it's insanely yummy. They serve it with a huge helping of whipped cream which is not warranted but you be the judge of that. 


This recipe is loosely based off of Giada's Tiramisu but I made mine in a 8x8 baking dish so I adjusted the proportions to the best of my "baking" knowledge.

Tiramisu

Ingredients:

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 8oz container of mascarpone cheese
• 1.5 cups of strong espresso cooled
• 2 Tbsp dark rum 
• 24 package lady fingers
• Unsweetened cocoa powder for garnish
• Dark chocolate shavings for garnish

Method:

1. In a large bowl, using an electric or stand mixer, beat the egg yolks and sugar for 5 minutes until they become thick and pale yellow. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until smooth.

2.  Add one or two tbsp esperesso and mix till combine. At this point you could choose to add a bit of vanilla (1 tsp). The originial recipe doesn't call for vanilla so I didn't add any but I have come across other recipes that add vanilla. Personally I think it tastes great without the vanilla. 

3.  Add 1 Tbsp rum to this mixture.

4.  In a small shallow dish, combine the remaining espresso and rum. 

5.  Soak each ladyfinger into this mixture for no more than 5 seconds and arrange in an 8x8 dish.  If you soak them too long, they will fall apart.  Break them in half if needed to neatly arrange everything in the dish. 

6.  Pour half the mascarpone mixture on top of the ladyfingers and repeat for another layer of soaked ladyfingers and mascarpone. 

7.  Cover with plastic scrap and let it set in the fridge for about 6-7 hours for best results. 

8.  Before serving dust with unsweetened cocoa powder and garnish with some dark chocolate curls (use a vegetable peeler to get beautiful looking curls). 

For the Love of Bagels and Pizza

Last week I gave in and bought the dozen pack of bagels from Costco. Why 12 bagels for just my husband and I? Because they were so fresh and I'm a sucker for freshly baked goods. As good as they taste a cream cheese or even lightly toasted with a bit of butter, I was itching to make a pizza for lunch. So the Bagel Pizza was born.

Bagel Pizza

Ingredients:

• 4 or 5 mushrooms sliced
• 4 or 5 olives, pitted
• 2 bagels
• few slivers of onion
• dried oregano
• jarred marinara sauce
• cheese- mozzarella or cheddar or jack, any melty cheese.
• EVOO (Extra virgin Olive Oil). Yeah, I watch Rachel Ray's cooking shows!
  

Directions :

1. Slice bagel into half and drizzle EVOO to coat the top
2. Liberally spread some of the marinara sauce as the base layer like you would on a pizza. Since a bagel is fairly thick, you would need more sauce than on a thin crust pizza.
3. Pile on all the toppings, as little or as much as you like, the last layer being the yummy cheese- also as little or as much as you like.
4. Sprinkle a bit of dried oregano
5. Bake at 375 F for about 20 minutes.

And this is what it looked before I bit into it:



There's another version of this I make on a tortilla but as Alton Brown would say, That's Another Show!