Spaghetti ei Gamberi

You do know that a name for a pasta dish in Italian always sounds better right? Doesn't Pasta Gamberi sound so much better than Prawn Pasta with Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Sauce? I think it does!

So anyway, you'd have figured out that I made a Prawn Pasta in a Roasted Garlic and Mushroom Sauce. The Lovely Wife had bought some prawns from the market and had planned to fry them up as the kids just love fried prawns.

Since I haven't made any new pasta for a while, I decided to make a meal out of the prawns and came up with the quick yet very tasty dish. I had originally planned to just make my aglio olio and then stir fry the prawns and add it in. However, seeing that there were mushrooms available as well, I decided to use mushrooms together with the prawns for a nice mix of earthiness and sea produce!

Pesto, Eggplant and Mushroom Pasta

After making and devouring the Mushroom Burger with Pesto for lunch, there was still a considerable amount of pesto left over. The kids and The Lovely Wife liked the pesto so much that I decided to make a Pasta that very same night - using similar ingredients. I needed to pop down to the local Super to get more ingredients and I chose button mushrooms and a few more baby eggplant to go with the pasta.
The kids wanted Fettucine as their choice of pasta so that is what I used.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic - chopped
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
Pesto
2 baby Eggplant - sliced thinly
200g Button Mushrooms - sliced into chunks
Fettucine
Method
Fry the garlic with oregano and basil. Add in the sliced eggplant and cook over high heat till tender. Add in the mushrooms and cook till tender. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cook the pasta and then toss in the Pesto and mix well until nicely combined. Serve the mushroom and eggplant over the pasta.

How easy is that? And how delicious did it turn out too! The whole family loved it as did I. The pasta becomes a nice green once coated with the Pesto and it even looks like it is a spinach pasta or some other sort of green pasta! Completely natural, completely healthy.



I'm sending this quick and easy dish over to Kirsten of From Kirsten's Kitchen to Yours who is hosting the ever popular Presto Pasta Nights for the fourth time it seems! Presto Pasta Nights is the brainchild of my friend Ruth from Once Upon a Feast. Now what could be better than sending in a Presto Pesto Pasta for Presto Pasta Nights? Enjoy!

Mushroom Trifecta Pasta

I first heard the term Trifecta as a University student and quickly learnt that it was related to Horse Racing. You basically pick the horses that will finish first, second, and third in exact order. I was never into horses nor into horse racing so it was with pleasure that I discovered that the term Trifecta is also used to describe a situation when three elements come together at the same time. This is especially true for food where three items come together very nicely. In fact, there is a popular meal that includes beans, rice, and quesadillas that is known as a "The Trifecta."

So, when trying to come up for a name for this mushroom pasta that uses three different types of mushrooms, what better name could I think off than the Mushroom Trifecta Pasta! It sure would sound good on a restaurant menu.





I decided on a Mushroom pasta to get away from the usual and try something different. The kids love creamy pasta and tomato based pastas and usually the mushrooms are a side ingredient rather than the main ingredient. For this dish, three different types of mushrooms make up the main ingredients and there is absolutely no meat in it at all!

Ingredients
5 cloves garlic - chopped
1 large onion - sliced
1 Tbsp Oregano
2 stalks celery - sliced
250g Portobello Mushrooms - sliced
250g White button mushrooms - sliced
250g Oyster Mushrooms - sliced (or torn into pieces)
3 Large tomatoes - sliced
100g Basil Leaves
Salt
Black Pepper

Method
Sautee the garlic, onion and oregano till onion in soft. Add in the celery and continue to cook. Add in the mushrooms and cook till the juices come out. Put in the tomatoes, cover the pan and allow to simmer until the tomatoes are soft and the juices released into the sauce. Toss in the Basil leaves and mix well. Stir in the pasta to coat well. Serve.

I have to say this dish ranks as one of my favourite vegetarian pastas. The mushrooms actually lend and air of 'meatness' to the dish and meat lovers wouldnt really notice that there is no meat in this. Regardless of the meat or no meat, this pasta dish is really tasty and even better, really, really healthy!



Its been a while since I've taken part in Presto Pasta Nights but I'm back with this entry. This week, PPN is being hosted by Claire of Chez Cayenne and of course, Presto Pasta Nights is the brainchild of my friend Ruth over at Once upon a feast. It's good to be back to taking part in PPN and I hope you all like this recipe as much as my family and I did!

Michael makes Pesto for a Presto Pesto Pasta

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

I've always believed in that saying and I try and put it into practice with the kids. I always like to teach them how to do something so that they learn how to do it themselves - instead of always doing it for them.

The same thing applies in the kitchen. It's no point always cooking good food for them if they never learn how easy it actually is to cook! That's one of the reasons why I've always encouraged my children to help out in the kitchen and both of them are more than happy to help. I'm slowly trying to get them to do more things in the kitchen on their own in the hope that one day they will be able to manage themselves in the kitchen and maybe cook a little something for us on their own.

A few posts back, Sarah helped me out with a batch of Choc Chip Banana Muffins and in fact, since she did most of the work, I gave her all the credit for it!

This time, Michael wanted to help me make a pesto as The Lovely Wife (or in this case, The Beloved Mother!) wanted a pesto pasta for lunch. This is the step by step of Michael making the pesto - with just a little help from me.


We used Cashew Nuts instead of pine nuts. After weiging out the nuts, the first thing with Cashews, as I learnt from MY Mother, is to always break them in half to check for sand, mites or any other foreign object. Get your sister to help out too!



Next, wash the basil leaves and place them in a colander to shake the water dry. Get the nuts and the basil leaves ready.



Get the food processor out and place it together with the basil leaves, nuts, olive oil and cheese on a table.
Yes, we forgot the garlic but more on that later...




Process the Basil leaves into a nice smooth paste.




Add in the nuts and process till smooth. Some people like the pesto a bit chunky so process it however fine you want it.



Oopps!! This is where I realised that we had forgotten the garlic. No matter, add it in as everything is going to be whizzed up anyway!



Next, Add in the cheese and process together. The mixture will get a little thick at this stage. Use a good quality cheese like Pecorino or parmesan although cheddar works as well.



Next, Add in the olive oil, a little at at time till the pesto forms a nice paste. The more oil you add, the thinner the paste - again, a matter of choice.


Finally, add some salt, dip you finger in, scoop up a little bit and taste it, adding more salt as required!



Hey Presto! Here's your Pesto!

Ingredients
3 Cloves Garlic
50g Sweet Basil Leaves
100g Cashew nuts
100g good quality cheese - grated
Olive Oil

Method
Blend everything up together in a food processor, adding the oil a little at a time at the end till the right consistency is achieved. The consistency is basically up to you.

To make a Pesto Pasta, boil your pasta of choice till Al Dente, then drain and toss together with your pesto. Again, how much you want to use is all a matter of taste.



I whipped up some meatballs to serve together with the Pesto Pasta for a little more body. The Lovely Wife however, preferred to have it just with some sliced cherry tomatoes. Did I mention she loves Pesto??!!



Michael was very proud of himself and so was I! As usual after eating, both kids thanked us for the meal. This is when I quipped, "Thank yourself! You made the pasta!"

You should have seen him beam!

Michael is proudly bringing this pasta over to Aqua from Served with Love who is hosting Presto Pasta Nights this week. Presto Pasta Nights is the brainchild of my friend Ruth over at Once upon a feast



I hope you not only enjoy this dish as much as we did but have just as much fun in the kitchen making it! Remember, kids are never to young to help out in the kitchen and cooking with kids is such good fun!

A story of Pasta, Prawns and the holy Trinity

Just a week ago at the market, my little princess batted her eyes at me and asked me if we could get some prawns. Although a tad expensive, I acquiesced to her request as I know how much she loves prawns. I then had to figure out what I was going to make.

For the longest time, I have had the itch to make Jambalaya - not quite knowing what Jambalaya actually is. I knew the song pretty well though, you know,

jambalaya and a crawfish pie and fillet gumbo
For tonight, I'm a-gonna see my ma-cheri a mi-o
Pick guitar, fill fruit far and be gay-o
Son of a gun, we'll have big fun on the bayou

I knew that Jambalaya had something to do with Creole and Cajun cooking but that was about it. A quick check on google showed that Jambalaya was akin to a Paella. Not really as exotic as I thought it was. So I shelved the plans for a Jambalaya.

Reading on though, I learnt that the Holy Trinity doesn't only exist in Religion and Theology...




If you will permit me to digress a little, The Holy Trinity in Christianity is basically the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit - all in unity of the Godhead. One God though manifested in three. Although born and bred a Christian, I still find this concept hard to explain - but I guess that is what faith is all about.

Hinduism has its own Trinity as well, Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver and Shiva, the Destroyer. Not terribly removed from the Christian trinity - thus emphasising my own religious belief that ALL religions are equal and there is at the end of the day, only ONE God.

That brings me to the Culinary holy Trinity. Apparently in Cajun/Creole cooking, especially in Louisianna, the combination of onions, celery, and green bell pepper is known as the holy Trinity. That was enlightening to me and seeing it a few days later on an episode of Jamie's America where he visits Louisiana and joins Leah Chase in making Gumbo, proved that it was a term in real use and not just something made up.

So now you know all about the different Trinities and I learnt about the Culinary Trinity and I was intent on making sure I used it!

I decided that I would use the holy Trinity in a Pasta dish with Prawns, Mushrooms and Spinach. I'd also use some chilli flakes to give it a bit of bite. This is what I did:

Ingredients
3 Bay Leaves
5 cloves garlic
2 tsp oregano
3 tsp chilli flakes
1 large onion - chopped
1 stalk celery - sliced thinly
1/2 capsicum - chopped (reserve the other half for garnishing)
200g button mushrooms - sliced
200g spinach leaves
400g large prawns - deveined
500g Spaghetti

Method
Fry the bay leaves and oregano till fragrant. Add in the garlic and chilli flakes, mixing well. Add the holy trinity (onions, capsicum and celery) and cook till soft adding a little water if needed. Add in the mushrooms and cook till juices come out and then add in the spinach leaves, cooking till just wilted. Add in the prawns and cook till nicely pink. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in cooked pasta, mixing well.

This dish turned out to be really tasty with the holy Trinity providing a lovely base of flavour. My parents came over for lunch and it was enjoyed by everyone. This pasta dish is a definite winner and I think the next time I might try it with chicken or even bacon. Or maybe prawns again!



I'm submitting this to my friend Ruth over at Once upon a feast for her 149th edition of Presto Pasta Nights! She's looking for guest hosts too so pop on over and see how you can help!

A gift of Cheese and a Pasta called Primavera

I'm trying to clear up my backlog of outstanding posts or drafts that I have done where I've uploaded pictures but not the text or worse still not even the recipe! This post goes way back to October 2009 when a close friend, Naomi, came to visit and brought along a slab of Pecorino Cheese for us.

I've never sampled Pecorino before so the gift of cheese was most welcome. My little princess loves her cheese and as soon as she heard that I had some new cheese, she wanted some of it. We ate a little of it with crackers and the cheese was a little strong but very, very tasty.




A few days later, The Lovely Wife asked me if I could make this Pasta dish that she had seen in the California Pizza Kitchen cookbook. The secret to this dish, according to the book, was the roasted garlic sauce. As I never follow recipes to a tee, this is my version of Spaghetti Primavera inspired by the CPK cookbook. Apparently Primavera is Italian for springtime and that is why this pasta is made up of a variety of vegetables and herbs.

Ingredients
1 bulb garlic (about 8-10 cloves)
1 medium onion - chopped
3 stalks fresh oregano - leaves removed and chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
200g button mushrooms
1 red capsicum - sliced into large pieces
1 orange capsicum - sliced into large pieces
1 zuchinni - sliced
2 stalks celery - thinly sliced
200g cherry tomatoes - halved


Method
Cut the end of the garlic and then place the garlic bulb in a small dish. Pour about a teaspoon of olive oil over it and roast in a 200C oven for about 20 mins till soft.
Meanwhile, fry the onion, oregano and thyme together till fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and cook till tender. Add in the celery and zuchinni and mix well. Add in the tomatoes and press them lightly as you stir the mixture to get the juices out. Reserve a few tomatoes. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables as you want them slightly crunchy.
Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of their skin and process together with the reserved tomatoes to make a nice paste. Add in some water if necessary.
Add in the garlic paste to the mixture and cook well. Finally toss in the capsicum and cook till slightly tender. Toss togehter with pasta of your choice.

A most delicious meal and very, very healthy! I grated some of the Pecorino Cheese and sprinkled it over the pasta. The cheese went really, really well with the pasta and The Lovely Wife said she really enjoyed the dish. Who would have thought a vegetarian pasta dish could taste so good!



Thanks for the cheese Naomi - told you I would put it to good use!

I'm also sending this in to Ruth's Presto Pasta Nights. I haven't contributed anything to PPN for a while and this is my first one for 2010! This time around, PPN is being hosted by Sara of Cupcake Muffin. So pop over to her blog on Friday to see the roundup!

Creamy Tomato Chicken Pasta

Last weekend, The Lovely Wife went for her old school reunion. One of her close friends organised the brunch meeting so she left early in the morning to help out. The kids and I started off our 'Mummy free day' by going to the supermarket to get some ingredients for their choice of lunch. No surprises that they wanted a pasta. I sometimes wonder why the kids love their pasta so much!

I had decided I was going to make a creamy tomato based pasta and there was some chicken in the fridge as well as some capsicum. So all we really needed to get was some mushrooms and a few other groceries.

I was also busy doing the Daring Baker's challenge for this month - but of course I cant tell you what it is yet! So in between doing this and that for the challenge, I made this pasta sauce.

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
1 large onion
2 bay leaves
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
500g Chicken breast - cut into strips
200 g portobello mushrooms - cut into strips
3 yellow capsicum - cut into strips
1 can stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup cream
Salt
Pepper
Method
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Set aside. Sautee garlic, onion, bay leaves and oregano till fragrant. Add in chicken and cook well. Add in mushrooms and mix well. continue cooking until juices are released. Add in can of tomatoes and allow to simmer. Add in capsicum, mixing well. Pour in the cream and mix well. Allow to simmer. Add a little corn flour mixed with water if needed to thicken the mixture.

I served this with Spaghetti although I contemplated using Penne. I think I made the right choice as the Spaghetti went really well with this sauce.

The dish turned out better than I expected and the kids really loved it. They said this was one of the best pasta's they had ever eaten but I take that with a pinch of salt simply because they were really hungry. We all know that food tastes better when you are really hungry!

The Lovely Wife came home later in the afternoon and she admitted she was a tad hungry as she had eaten brunch rather early and then had only had coffee after that. She proceeded to eat the pasta sauce with some bread and she too declared it a winner in her books.




Well, if everyone in my family loved it, that means it has got to be pretty darn good right?!

It's been a while since I contributed to Presto Pasta Nights the brainchild of my friend Ruth and hosted this week by Kait of Pots and Plots so this is my contribution this time around.

The Salami doth make the difference...

I know I've posted about a Spicy Salami Pasta before although I named it with a fancy Italian sounding name.

This version is a little different too because unlike what I did before, I didn't 'adulterate' the salami with tomatoes or capsicum this time. I did however, add in some mushrooms. The biggest taste differentiator however is the quality of the Salami. This salami was really spicy, a lot more meaty and I definitely used a whole lot more than the last time! It's true that quality ingredients give you a better tasting meal and this Salami was really top notch!





I made this dish just last weekend when some good friends,Balan and Mae, who have since migrated to Melbourne, came over for a visit. We had originally invited them over for dinner but we had to change it to lunch. Another good friend, Lynn, who also knows Balan and Mae well came over too.

Since it was lunch, I kept it fairly simple by just making this pasta together with my Swedish Meatballs. The Lovely Wife had actually bought a bottle of Lingonberry Jam from Ikea and our guests actually thought the meatballs were from Ikea!

The Salami was some that The Lovely Wife's brother had brought back for us from his recent trip to Melbourne. It was really spicy and covered in chilli flakes so there was really no need to add more chilli.

I simply chopped up the salami into strips, sliced some mushrooms, fried them all together with a little oregano and basil and then tossed the whole thing together with spaghetti. What could be simpler??!!

Taste wise, it was pretty darn awesome or as some of my blogging buddies like to say, Pretty Dharm Awesome! Ha Ha!



I'm submitting this to Presto Pasta Nights created by my friend Ruth at Once Upon a Feast and hosted this week by Pam at Side Walk Shoes.

Fried Mee Hoon or Chow Mien for PPN 100!!

Firstly, congratulations to my dear friend Ruth over at Once Upon a Feast who celebrates her 100th Presto Pasta Nights this Friday. Hooray!!!



What I'm bringing to this 100th Feast of Pasta is a very Malaysian noodle dish that The Lovely Wife made for my son's birthday back in November last year. See? Keeping old posts sometimes has its benefits!!



Now whats a lovely dish without a good story to go with it right?

Chow Mien is the generic Chinese name for any fried noodles. I've known this for a long time. How long I've known this has a point - it really does!

Now have you noticed that in a lot of American movies, every time they order Chinese, they will order Chicken Chowww Meeean? I changed the spelling to how I would hear it pronounced. Oddly enough though, I never knew they were talking about Fried Noodles with Chicken and I always wondered what this exotic Chinese dish was that we could never get in Malaysia.

One day, the Lovely Wife and I were watching some movie on telly and the lady in the movie asked the man to make sure he got some Chicken Chowwww Meeean for takeaway. The Lovely Wife remarked that she would love to try this Chicken Chowww Meeean and suddenly I felt like I had been hit by a bolt of lightning and bells started going of in my head. Quick as a flash I realised it was Chicken Chow Mien!

Without blinking an eye, I raised my eyebrows at her and replied rather haughtily (with a 'don't you know anything' look) - "Noodles with chicken! Chow Mien! You know, Fried Noodles" - as if I had known all along. The Lovely Wife felt rather sheepish and so I confessed that "Yes, I only just realised it, I too wondered what it was for many years." See, I'm really not that bad a person....

So anyway, this lovely Fried Mee Hoon (Mee Hoon is thin noodles or vermicelli) was made by The Lovely Wife and this is what she does:

Ingredients:
1 packet Mee Hoon (sorry, dont know the weight or size)
6 dried chillies
5 cloves garlic - chopped
1 chicken breast - cut into strips
10 dried taufoo (bean curd) - cut into strips
2 firm taufoo - cubed
1/2 cabbage - cut into strips
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
3 Eggs

Method
Blend the chillies with a little oil to form a paste. Fry this paste with the garlic until fragrant. Add in the chicken and cook well. Add in the taufoo and allow to simmer. Throw in the cabbage and mix well and then add in the Soy Sauces. Stir in the noodles until well coated. Add more sauce to taste if required.

Whisk the eggs together until smooth and then fry like an omellete. Cut the egg into strips and sprinkle over the noodles.



These noodles go really well with Birds Eye chillies in a little soy sauce - that is a typical Malaysian 'additive' to fried noodles and fried rice!



This dish is so versatile that you can use prawns, beef or any other meat as an ingredient. Throwing in some beansprouts or other vegetables would also go really well!

Spicy Pasta with Meatballs - More Christmas Meals

As I mentioned in my Vol-au-Vent post, my parents and parents-in-law came over for Christmas Eve dinner at our home. The menu for that night was simple yet tasty. In addition to the Vol-au-vents, I made this pasta dish and instead of the obligatory salad, we had buttered steamed vegetables. The pasta was more as a backup plan because I wasn't sure how the Vol-au-vents would turn or how they would be received. I also wanted to make something that I was sure the kids would enjoy. Pasta is always a favourite with them and they so love my meatballs too!



To make it slightly different, I used a combination of mutton mince and beef mince rather than my usual beef meatballs recipe. I also made them smaller so that they would 'mingle' nicely with the pasta. The spicy pasta was my normal Spicy Aglio Olio - the one with lots of Chilli Flakes. I like how two favourite dishes can combine to make yet another favourite!



And then there was dessert... I wont post about the dessert as it wasn't anything extraordinary. I had made stacks and stacks of Chocolate Cake to take to my parents house on Christmas Day for our 'Open House' and I saved a little for dessert that night.

Quite a lovely spread if you ask me!

Sorry you have to troll to my other posts to find the recipes that make up this dish but rather than offering excuses...well, I was in a bit of a rush to get this post out and I'm just kinda lazy!

I've also entered this to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this time by my lovely friend Ivy at Kopiaste

Pasta Aglio Olio i Funghi e Spinaci

I think I'm getting into the 'romance' of naming my pasta dishes by their Italian names. Only problem is, I'm not sure if they are grammatically correct and I run the risk of an Italian coming to my house and saying "Ciò è rifiuti. Non state parlando Italiano! (This is Rubbish. You are not speaking Italian!) while he takes of his gloves and slaps my face twice. Or is that what the French do?

The kids were feeling a little under the weather with both having the flu and fever. This didnt diminish their appetite however and they both asked for pasta. I decided to keep it simple but yet very nutritious by making a simple Aglio Olio but fortified with Mushrooms, Spinach and a little chilli for both flavour and colour.
This is what I did:

Ingredients
8 cloves garlic
1 small onion
200g large Swiss Brown Mushrooms
1 bunch spinach
2 chillies
2 tsp oregano
Black Pepper
Salt
Olive Oil

Method
Chop Onion, Garlic and Chilli. Fry with black pepper and oregano in Olive Oil till soft. Add in the mushrooms and cook till juices come out. Blanch the spinach and chop finely. Then add into the mixture. Season with a little salt. Toss together with cooked pasta.

I just love how simple this dish is. I think sometimes with Pasta, it is the simplicity that makes it really special.



I also made some meatballs that went really well with this pasta but thats for another time and another post! In the meantime, this is also my entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by (and also the brainchild of) my friend Ruth at Once Upon A Feast

I know I dont speak Italian but I do know what Bellissimo means and in my mind, this pasta dish is certainly that. Bellissimo!

Fettucine Piccante con Salame ed il Fungo

Quite a mouthful isn't it! Yet something that would look pretty impressive on a menu. For those of you that don't speak Italian, Fettucine Piccante con Salame ed il Fungo translates to Spicy Fettucine with Salami and Mushrooms. Incidentally I don't speak Italian either but the magic of the internet allows me to search for translations and then pretend to be a master linguist. Rather cunning even if I do say so myself!

I always enjoy a spicy pasta and there is nothing better to make a spicy pasta than with hot salami! I had already decided I wanted to make a spicy pasta with hot salami for dinner one Saturday not too long ago. What needed to be done though was to get the right kind of Hot Salami.



The Lovely Wife, the Kids and I all took a trip to a newly opened supermarket not too far from our home. They have a nice Deli with loads of sausages and different kinds of Salami. They were very helpful and more than willing to let us try all the different kinds of salami and we finally settled on a rather spicy Salami - I think it was SPicy Hungarian although I cant quite remember which one we finally settled on!

This is what I did:

Ingredients
4 cloves garlic
1 Capsicum (I used Orange as it lends a slightly sweeter taste)
200g Hot Salami
200g Button Mushrooms
100g cherry tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
chilli flakes (to taste)

Method
Chop garlic and sautee with oregano and chilli flakes. Add in sliced mushrooms and cook till soft. Add in the hot salami and cook well. Meanwhile cut the capsicums in large squares and add to the mix. Cook until just tender but still slightly crunchy. Halve the cherry tomatoes and toss together in the hot mixture until the juices start to come out but the tomatoes still hold their shape.
Cook pasta of your choice and mix together with the ingredients till nicely coated. Season with salt and pepper



The kids and the Lovely Wife really enjoyed this. The salami was even spicier after it was cooked but thats what made this a real treat! A nice green salad helped to soothe the spiciness and add some roughage and vitamins to the meal too!

This is my entry to Presto Pasta Nights which is being hosted this time by my lovely friends - the mother and daughter team of Giz and Psychgrad over at Equal Opportunity Kitchen

Creamy Chicken, Brinjal, Mushroom and Spinach Pasta

For some reason, the kids just love their pasta. They can never get enough of it. Each time you ask them what they feel like having for lunch or dinner, their little eyes light up and they request for pasta - more often than not, creamy pasta.

That's just what happened one Saturday when my son Michael had to go to school for a replacement class due to a shchool holiday or event or something or other. The Lovely Wife had arranged to go with one of her friends on a shopping spree or event or something or other. Yes, sometimes I kinda lose the plot of who is going where for what reason. All I knew was that I had to send Mike to school and then take the opportunity to spend some quality time alone with Sarah.

I also had to cook lunch too! So Sarah and I had a fun time shopping for groceries at the local supermarket. I decided to do a simple creamy pasta but one that had a lot of flavour. That basically meant that I had no idea what I wanted to make!

As Sarah and I walked down the aisles, we picked up some Brinjal, some Mushroom (but of course!) and some Spinach. I then decided on some chicken mince simply because I had this idea of a creamy white looking pasta.
This is what I did.

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
300g Mince Chicken
200g white button Mushrooms
1 Brinjal
1 large bunch Fresh Spinach
Milk
2 tsp corn flour - for thickening
Salt
Black Pepper

Method
Chop the garlic and sautee with basil and oregano. Cut mushrooms thinly and dice brinjal. Cook the mince chicken until well done. Add in the mushrooms and brinjals and cook well. Meanwhile wash and clean the spinach. Blanch in hot water and then chop the spinace. Add to chicken mixture. Add in some milk and season with salt and pepper. If required, mix some cornflour with water and add to mixture to thicken it. Serve with your choice of pasta.


Mike was thrilled when I picked him up from school and mentioned that I had cooked lunch. Sarah promptly announced that she helped with the shopping and cooking too! After a quick shower, Michael sat down with Sarah and I for lunch as the Lovely Wife wasn't home yet.

I must say that there's nothing quite as satisfying as seeing two hungry children enjoying their lunch so much!

When the Lovely Wife returned about an hour later, she too wolfed down the pasta as she hadn't been able to have lunch due to having to line up for a long time at the sale. I've never quite figured out the logic of spending half a day at a sale to get a few items that you would not or may not normally buy anyway. But I'll save that argument for another day.


This Pasta Dish is also my entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by Kate at Thyme for Cooking