Pasta Arrabiata (Tomato Sauce)

This is one very simple dish (Once you’ve got the tomato sauce!) and pleases most palettes. There are certain variations that I will post within this recipe to adjust for multiple taste types. This goes really well with Garlic Bread by the way and makes for a fantastic and fulfilling lunch.

Here’s what you need:

Tomato Sauce for 2 (Recipe)

Penne/Fusilli/Spaghetti/Macaroni – Enough for 2 people (My way of measuring is 2 fist-fulls of the smaller variety for each)

Olive Oil – 2 Tablespoons

Minced Garlic – 2 Tablespoons

Finely Chopped Basil Leaves (Fresh) – 1/2 Tablespoon [Optional]

Oregano – 1 Tablespoon

Sugar – 1/2 Tablespoon

Salt – To taste

Pepper – 1/2 Tablespoon [Adjust for taste]

Finely Chopped Red Chilli – 1 Tablespoon [Optional if you want it to be spicy]

Grated Parmesan Cheese – 1 Tablespoon [Optional]

1. Start by filling a large vessel with filtered water. Put this on the heat on high and cook your pasta as per the manufacturers instructions. Normally, you put in the dry pasta once the water starts to boil for anywhere between 8-15 minutes.
2. While your Pasta boils, heat the Olive Oil in a wok and stir in the garlic. Cook the garlic well so you get the flavor infused into the oil really well. Cook on medium for about 2-3 minutes, or till the garlic is just about brown.
3. If you like you want your sauce to be nice and spicy, you need to stir in the Chopped Red Chillis with the same quantity of Tomato sauce and cook them a little bit first. If you can’t find fresh red chillis, you can use the dried variety by soaking them in warm water for about 5 minutes and them putting them in a blender. Once you have the red chilli paste, you combine it with the same quantity of tomato sauce in a small bowl first and then pour it into the wok.
4. Add the entire tomato sauce now and cook on high heat till the sauce comes to a boil. You need to stir continuously here. Put in the sugar to get rid of the sourness of the tomatoes. Be super-careful here – you do not want to make your sauce too sweet. Use the sugar with care is all I’ll say.
5. Put in the Oregano, Basil Leaves, Salt & Pepper into the sauce and cook uncovered on a low flame for about 10-odd minutes. You’ll need to play it by ear and stir & check the sauce ever few minutes. When the sauce is cooked, it turns into a dark red and you no longer taste the rawness of the tomatoes.
6. Drain your pasta once it is boiled and stir into the cooked sauce right before you serve. Put some Parmesan cheese on top and serve. Enjoy!

Brown Rice Mushroom Risotto

I researched for a good recipe for a Mushroom Risotto for quite some time and found most of them to be quite similar. The primary ingredients remain the same in most recipes, with a few additions or subtractions of course. Mine is quite simple, made mostly with widely available ingredients.

Typically Risottos are made using Arborio Rice, a thick variety of white rice. I used brown rice primarily because they’re more healthy and because they are more easily available. You could just as well use Arborio rice in place of brown rice. Never tried it with normal White Rice though.

Here’s what you need for 2 portions:

White Mushrooms – 1 1/2 cup, sliced

Onions – 1/2 cup, chopped

Brown Rice – 1 Tea Cup (Soak them in clean water for about 2 Hours)

Chicken/Vegetable Stock – 2 1/2 Cups + 1/4 Cup (If you don’t have chicken/vegetable stock, you can go ahead and dissolve 3/4th cube of Chicken/Vegetable Stock in 2 1/2 cups of Boiling Water)

Basil Leaves – A Handful (You could leave them out if you cannot source them. You’ll miss the flavor but they aren’t exactly indispensable)

Oregano – 2 Tablespoons

Pepper – 1 Tablespoon

Chilli Flakes – 1 Tablespoon (Optional, increase or decrease as per taste)

Salt – To taste

Olive Oil – 3 Tablespoon

Cheddar Cheese – 1/3 Cup

Parmesan Cheese – 3 Tablespoons

1. Soak the rice in water for about 2 hours prior to when you intend on starting. Wash the mushrooms really well under running water and clean each one carefully to rid them of all dirt. Slice them to about 1/2 centimeter in thickness. You might want to remove the stems if the mushrooms aren’t very fresh.
2. In a non-stick pan or skillet, put in 3 tablespoons of Olive Oil on high. Once it heats up (About a minute), put in the onions and wait for them to turn translucent. Put in the mushrooms, turn the gas to Medium, put in the Basil Leaves, Oregano, Pepper and Chilli Flakes, and cook till the Mushrooms are Cooked. Keep stirring. This shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
3. Once the mushrooms are cooked, put in about 1/4 cup of Stock and stir really well to de-glaze the pan and get all the flavor into the stock. Put in the rice after draining them of the water they were soaking in and mix well with the gas on high. 30 seconds in, put in 1 cup of the stock. Cover the pan/skillet and put the heat on low once the stock comes to a boil.
4. Once the stock is evaporated, put in another cup of the stock and repeat. Once this cup of stock is evaporated, check whether the rice are cooked. If you can taste the mushrooms and the rice are soft to eat, they’re done. If not, put in more stock and repeat till done. Normally it shouldn’t take more Stock to cook the rice than what is stated above, but rice are unpredictable given all the varieties available in the market. You’ll have to play it by ear, rather tongue for this one.
5. Stir in the grated Cheddar Cheese and turn the heat on high to melt the cheese and merge it with the rice. You can increase or decrease the quantity of cheese depending on you liking of the same. Once the cheese melts, serve on a plate and garnish with the grated Parmesan Cheese and dried Oregano.

I like cooking this using Chicken Stock because the flavor is fantastic using Chicken Stock instead of Vegetable Stock. Fresh Chicken Stock is far better than the Stock Cube variety and definitely adds to the overall taste of the dish.