Baked Pasta

Hey you all !

I know its been a long time since I've posted anything. I went to Pakistan to spend Eid with my family, came back a few days ago. And than i got the flu, so a lot has happened.

 The packing and unpacking kind of takes a toll on me. What to take from here, and what not to. Gifts for everyone. Going from Oman, i thought i wouldn't have a lot of luggage to bring back, as i'd give all the gift there but wrong again, me and J had 43 kgs of extra baggage :/ pretty crazy. And than after THAT ordeal we come here and we had to unpack, it took me about a week to do so. I was so tired by the time i was done !

It was the first eid after my wedding, so this trip was already really tiring. But there's one good side to all this, we did get a lot of Eidi (from my side of the family, lets make that clear :D ):D haha :D

Anyways, I made this recipe in Ramadan, hoping to post it sooner but just couldn't find the time. So here it it.

You'll need :

2-3 cups of RED MEAT SAUCE ( You can find the recipe by clicking on the link)

For White Sauce:

2 tbsp of Butter

2-3 tbsp of All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 cup of Milk

1 cup of Chicken Stock (made with chicken powder or chicken cube)

Salt to taste

1/4 tsp of Black pepper

a pinch of Dried Thyme

a pinch of Dried Oregano

Other ingredients:

1 Carrot diced

1 Capsicum diced

2-3 Spring Onions chopped

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese shredded

2 cups of Pasta

Make RED SAUCE, keep Aside

Stir fry Vegetables in a little oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Keep aside.

Boil any type of pasta you like. Keep Aside.

For the white sauce: Add butter in a pan, when melted add flour, cook till fragrant. keep stirring to prevent burning.

Add milk little at a time to prevent lumps from forming. It will instantly starts to thicken. If lumps are formed, dont panic, add a little bit more milk and blend everything together and pass through a sieve.

Add chicken stock, salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Let it cook till it reaches a saucy consistency (not too thick, as you'd be pouring this over the pasta)

Grease a baking dish with butter/oil.

Add the meat sauce to the bottom of the dish.

Cover with pasta.

Add the stir fried Vegetables

...the white sauce

Top it with mozzarella cheese 

Bake at 180 for 25-30 minutes.

Take out and Enjoy !

Linking the recipe to Back to School Lunch Ideas

Baked Spaghetti Bolognese (My Version)

As you know by now that "I love food!", i am constantly trying to make up different things (I dont like regular everyday food) :D. We dont have such thing as spaghetti bolognese in Pakistani cuisine, but i searched on it for a few days, saw some recipes, and sort of twisted them to suit our Pakistani palate. And it turned out super delicious, I can say that for sure because my sister was literally drooling over her plate :D

This recipe serves about 5-6 people.

Ingredients:

Chicken Mince/finely chopped : 1 breast piece

Spaghetti : 1 packet

Onion : 1

Garlic : 3-4 cloves

Carrot : 1

Tomato puree : 1 1/2 cup

Tomato ketchup : 4-5 tbsp

Salt : to taste

Red chili flakes : to taste ( i used i heaped tbsp :D )

White pepper : 1/2 tsp

Black pepper : 1/2 tsp

Chinese salt : 1 tsp

Oregano : 1 tsp

Thyme : 1 tsp

Sugar : 2 tbsp

Cheddar cheese

Mozzarella 

Method :

Finely dice Onions, Carrots and Garlic. Keep aside.

Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan, Add onions. Cook for a minutes...

...than add carrots. Cook for 5 minutes more.

Add garlic. Cook till fragrant, a minute more.

...Than add chicken mince. Cook for a minute. Dont worry if it starts sticking to the pan, just keep stirring. Deglaze the pan with a tbsp of vinegar. 

Add salt, red chili flakes, white pepper, black pepper, chinese salt...Mix.

...add tomato puree and tomato ketchup. Cook for a minute.

Add sugar and oregano...

...and 1 1/2 to 2 cup of water. Let cook on medium flame for about 40-45 minutes. The more it cooks, the more delicious it gets.

When thick add thyme. (it can be skipped if you dont have it on hand, but it does give a gorgeous aroma)

Take off heat when it's thick and delicious. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Leave to cool.

Cook Spaghetti according to package instructions.

Drizzle with a little bit of oil...

...I used extra virgin olive oil.

Toss to coat.

Grease a deep oven proof dish.

Add in the Spaghetti

..some grated mozzarella  

...the sauce..

...top it off with some grated cheddar, sprinkle of black pepper and oregano.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 C for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

Pasta with Seekh Kabab in Red Sauce

Ingredients:
Pasta : 1/2 packet
Seekh kabab : 3-4 (i used frozen ones) (u can substitute anything with this, chicken, beef, anything would work)
Soy Sauce : 1 tbsp
Chilli Sauce : 1 tbsp

(For the red sauce)
Onion : 1 (diced)
Ginger garlic paste : 1/2 tsp
Tomato puree : 5 tbsp
Tomato Ketchup : 4 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Red Chilli Flakes : 2 tsp ( can alter according to ur taste)
Sugar : 2 tbsp
Oregano : 1/2 tsp
Thyme : 1/2 tsp ( optional, but it does give an amazing fragrance)

Method:

Boil Pasta. keep aside.

Cut seekh kabab in chunks. keep aside.

Now for the sauce

Heat approx 2 tbsp of oil and add onions, fry till transparent.

Than add ginger garlic paste. When fragrant...

...add tomato puree and tomato ketchup...

...and all the spices and herbs and a little water.

let it cook on low flame till thick and delicious !

check and adjust seasoning at this stage.

Now in a different pot add 1 tbsp of oil, heat it on high flame and add seekh kabab, soy sauce, chilli sauce. stir for a min than add the red sauce and pasta. Mix thoroughly and serve!!

Enjoy !!

Tip : u can add variation to this dish my sprinkling it with cheese and baking it in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Tip : u can make ur own tomato puree by blanching the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes, removing the skins and blending them together with 2-3 cloves of garlic.

Happy Cooking!!