Spinach-n-Mushroom pasta bake

Looking for a quick and easy way to entertain... Or just want to pamper yourself for a classy Italian meal on a weeknight... Either way, this recipe is definitely worth a try! :)

Ingredients:
Handful of spinach
Button mushrooms - quartered or chopped in thick slices
Pasta
Parmesan cheese - grated
Mozzarella cheese - grated
Salt
Pepper
Red pepper flakes
Minced garlic
Some dried Oregano
Some dried Thyme
~1/2 tbsp Butter
Olive oil
Some flour
Some Vegetable/mushroom stock

Method:
1. While the pasta water is kept to boil on one stove burner; heat olive oil with salt, pepper, red chilly flakes, oregano, thyme and  minced garlic in a deep saucepan on another burner.
2. Once everything starts to sizzle, add the mushrooms. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Let the mushrooms ooze their juices in to make the sauce.
3. After about another 2-3 minutes, remove the cooked mushrooms along with their juices in a bowl.
Note: At this point, put the pasta in the boiling water to start cooking.
4. In the same saucepan, add some butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted, add some flour and cook well to make a roux.
5. Add some stock to this and let it thicken. Add mushroom and it's juices to the sauce.
6. Add some roughly chopped spinach leaves to the mixture along with the drained pasta.
7. Empty this pasta mixture in a baking dish.
8. You can sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and Mozzarella cheese on top OR you can skip the cheeses as well.
9. Bake this for 7-10 minutes at 400F/205C oven.

Serve hot!!

Spinach will cook in the heat of the sauce and later in the oven. That way it retains it's green color and has a bite to it.

You can substitute spinach leaves with any other sturdy greens such as arugula, water cress or chard leaves. 

Mini wheels with mushrooms and swiss chard

Mini wheel is a very pretty shape of pasta specially when the guest of honor are kids.
This dish will be liked by all - kids or adults - doesn't matter. Ready to break the gold sauce pot!

Ingredients:
Chopped Garlic
Crushed Red Pepper flakes
Black pepper powder
Salt
Olive oil
A few cups of  chopped swiss chard
A few cups of sliced mushrooms
Mini wheel pasta
Pecorino cheese
1 egg per person

Method:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
2. While the pasta is cooking, in a big pan, start heating olive oil, garlic, peppers and salt.
3. Once the oil mixture is warm enough, add some mushrooms and saute until cooked.
4. Now add the chopped chard and wait until it all wilts.
5. Add about 3/4 cup of water in which you cooked pasta to the pan to make a sauce.
6. Drain and add the remaining pasta and some Pecorino cheese. You can also add Parmesan cheese.
7. Pile the pasta in side and crack eggs to make half fried eggs(this will make the gold sauce pots).

Serving suggestions: In a plate, pile the pasta and top it with half fried egg and cheese. Once you break the yolk, the yellow liquid will make for a delicious pasta sauce.

Amber confetti in a forest

Some days when I am alone on a weekend, have nothing to do but relax and enjoy a beautiful afternoon, I feel like treating myself with something elegant yet keeping up to that new year resolution of eating healthy. To that, this amber confetti of mushrooms and almond-parsley sauce comes to my rescue. This is a quick and simple dish that makes me feel like a queen of lazy afternoon!

Ingredients:
Amber confetti:
3 cups quartered mushrooms
Olive oil
2 tsp dried Rosemary
2 tsp dried Garlic powder
2 tsp dried Thyme
Salt
Black pepper powder
Crushed red pepper flakes(optional)

Almond-parsley Sauce:
1/4 cup almonds
1 bunch of parsley
1/2 cup grated Pecorino-Romano
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Lime juice
Salt and Black pepper to taste

Method:
Amber confetti:
1. In a pan, put olive oil, garlic powder, rosemary, thyme, salt and peppers. Turn the gas on low and allow the flavors to warm.
2. Once the oil is warm, put the mushrooms in and cook while stirring until they are cooked through yet have a firm form.
Tip: Make sure you cook on low to medium heat so that the mushrooms don't dry out.

Sauce:
This is the forest part where amber meets greens.
1. In a food processor, put all the ingredients and mix together. Keep this sauce a bit chunky.
Tip: You prep and make the sauce while the mushrooms are cooking.

Serving suggestion:
Although the amber confetti itself is delicious to eat as such, I like it with small amount of rice and a couple of fingerling potatoes as they taste amazing with the almond-parsley sauce.

Have a good afternoon!

Linguine in wild mushroom sauce

Dried wild mushrooms have become a staple in my pantry these days. With a hectic schedule and a desire to eat as many home cooked meals as possible, there is a need to revise the grocery list every now and then to come up with innovative ideas that are in stock and save time while entertaining! Dried food happens to be one of such items.

Ingredients:
1 cup of dried while mushroom
2 1/2 cups of hot water

1/2 packet of Linguine pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tbsp flour
2 cloves of garlic
Crushed red pepper to taste
Black Pepper powder to taste
Dried oregano to taste
3 tsp cream(optional)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-prepration:
Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for at least 30 minutes before making the pasta.

Method:
1. Start cooking the pasta based on the instructions on the packet.
2. Drain the soaking mushrooms and reserve the liquid for later use.
3. In a skillet start heating olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, garlic, oregano and salt on a medium-low flame.
4. Once the oil is heated(not to the smoking point) put the flour and cook it for 1-2 minutes into a smooth paste.
5. Add mushroom stock to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
6. Add cream and drained mushrooms to the sauce and simmer for another minute or two on low flame.
7. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and mix.
8. Mix half of the Parmesan in the pasta.

Garnish with remaining Parmesan and serve hot!

Curry chicken with mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast cut in small 1" pieces

2 green chilly

2 cloves of garlic

1" piece of ginger

2 tsp red chilly powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp roasted clove powder

2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 medium onion(cut into julians)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp of peanut oil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Make a paste of chillies, garlic and ginger.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Once the oil is warm, put in the ginger-garlic-chillies paste and saute for about half a minute.

3. Add the onions and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Now add chicken, salt, red chilly powder, cumin powder, clove powder and turmeric and mix well.
Cover chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, remove the lid, mix the mushrooms and stir the chicken. Again cover and cook for 10-15 minutes till the chicken is cooked.
6. Finally garnish with some chopped coriander. 

All the cooking to be done on medium flame.

You can serve this with roasted fingerling potatoes with yogurt sauce(check out my next recipe).

Enjoy! :)