Featured Image

PUMPKIN & FETA ORZO

I’m a creature of habit when it comes to pastas. I don’t do many meat versions either. (A vegetarian husband requires that my meat component is always on the side, and never in the pasta itself.) To make it into our regular meal rotations I make sure my pasta dishes follow these general rules. 1)… Read more »

Featured Image

SUN-DRIED TOMATO & FRESH PANEER PASTA

I’ve noticed in conversation that when I say “I made ricotta”, people think it’s a lot more complicated than making paneer. Here’s the deal. Paneer is made by boiling milk and breaking it with some kind of acid (yogurt/lemon juice/vinegar). The resulting curds are then drained and what you’re left with is paneer. Ricotta is… Read more »

Featured Image

MUSHROOM AND SPINACH ORZO

If you’re someone that enjoys a good risotto but could do without all that one-ladle-at-a-time fuss, orzo is just the ticket. Whoever thought up the idea to make pasta that resembles rice?! (albeit a large grain of rice). Ingenious! What’s also great about this short-cut pasta is that it cooks in half the time because… Read more »

Featured Image

PASTA ROMESCO WITH KALE

What makes something a pasta sauce and not a dip? Or a soup, even? You roast and blend vegetables to make soups and dips, but can you not use the same emulsion to coat pasta? I don’t see why not. As an extension to that thought, I present to you my pasta romesco. Traditionally eaten… Read more »

Featured Image

PASTA EGGPLANT INVOLTINI

This paneer and spinach filling is a staple in our house. Which I’m sure is apparent by now. I’d like to think of myself as someone that can make one component work in multiple ways and in multiple dishes. On the flip side, isn’t that the very definition of being a one-trick pony though?! (My… Read more »

Featured Image

ROASTED TOMATO & VEGETABLE PASTA SAUCE

This is unlike any pasta sauce you may have made before. For starters, there’s no pan involved for the sauce itself; you will of course be cooking your pasta in a pan (yet to come up with a nifty trick to dispense with that step, but we’ll get there). Hate to sound like a broken… Read more »

Featured Image

ROASTED BEET PASTA WITH FETA

I saw Nadiya Hussain make her version of what she calls ‘blender beetroot pasta’ on her new show on Netflix, and I was immediately taken by its simplicity, accessibility of ingredients, and if you know me—this gorgeous colour! She uses cooked beetroot, garlic, chilli, lemon juice and dill in her recipe, and I realize now… Read more »

Featured Image

SPINACH, PANEER & TOMATO PASTA BAKE

I called this an improv pasta bake when I posted it on Instagram a few days ago. That’s because I usually use this combination of sauces—the spinach and paneer sauce, and the tomato sauce—together but in different ways. I’ll explain that confusing statement: for example, I make these stuffed banana peppers where you roast banana… Read more »

Featured Image

BASIL AND ALMOND PESTO

Making pesto at home might quite possibly be the simplest DIY kitchen activity like, ever. This is a late realization however, since I’d found a good, organic variant in the shops and I was happy with it. I had an abundance of basil in my garden last week, and I realized that every time this… Read more »

Featured Image

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE

I may have inadvertently picked the perfect time to tell you about this recipe. It’s the beginning of the week and having this sauce on hand means that you can cruise through those weekday suppers like it ain’t no thing. We go through two jars of this stuff every week between the two of us,… Read more »

Featured Image

Spaghetti with roasted red pepper & cream sauce

Roasting peppers is something that we don’t do often enough. The tender smoky flesh inside all that charred blackness is the heart of this dish, literally and metaphorically speaking. This simple pasta dish has it all – it’s wholesome, not entirely different from what makes it comforting, and makes for a very fulfilling meal.

Featured Image

Couscous with roasted vegetables

Is it just me, or did you also think that Couscous was a grain? I remember reading somewhere a while ago that it was actually a pasta in a minuscule granular form, but it must’ve completely skipped my mind when I made it alongside some Spaghetti arrabiata for dinner last night. How very un-savvy of… Read more »

Featured Image

SPAGHETTI ALL’ARRABBIATA aka Angry Pasta

The first time I came across this dish, I thought it was some sort of an exotic Italian-Middle eastern fusion type thing. I think that shows in the way that I pronounce it as well..arrrrabiata. Any Italian reading this, please pardon my ignorance (if you’re still reading, you’ll be pleased to know that I didn’t… Read more »

Featured Image

AUBERGINE AND BROCCOLI PASTA BAKE

I love adding fresh veggies to my meal, and am constantly on the hunt to find recipes that can incorporate them. Ordinarily I find vegetarian dishes to be a real downer, so I had to pull out the big guns here..cheese! And not just one, but 2 types; Parmesan for the depth of flavour and… Read more »