how to cook Roman-Style Chicken

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breast halves, with ribs

2 skinless chicken thighs, with bones

1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon

1/4 cup olive oil

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

3 ounces prosciutto, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon fresh oregano leaves

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 tablespoons capers

1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions

Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and prosciutto and cook until the peppers have browned and the prosciutto is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, wine, and herbs. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

If serving immediately, add the capers and the parsley. Stir to combine and serve. If making ahead of time, transfer the chicken and sauce to a storage container, cool, and refrigerate. The next day, reheat the chicken to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the capers and the parsley and serve.

Pasta in Spinach Almond Gravy

Pasta in Spinach Almond Gravy

Instead of having the regular food for lunch, I made a healthy, wholesome pasta which is an all time favourite for my kids. With some nutrient vegetables and with a tasty supporting gravy, we can enjoy pasta anytime during the day. It would be heavenly if you have this wholesome pasta with a side of a yummy smoothie.

Pasta in Spinach Almond Gravy with mixed fruit smoothie - Lunch on a spring day.

Ingredients
Mini farfalle Pasta - 2 Cups
Yellow Onion - 1/4 cup
Broccoli florets - 12 small florets
Peas - 1/4 cup
Carrots - 1/4 finely cut into cubes
Olive Oil - 4 tbsp.
Salt - To Taste.
Italian Seasoning Powder - 2 tsp.
Shredded Cheese - 2 tbsp.
Gouda Cheese - 1 tbsp.

For Grinding
Spinach - 1 cup.
Tomato - 1 medium.
Black pepper - 1 1/2 tbsp.
Garlic Pods - 3
Almonds - 8.

Method
1. Cook the pasta with little Olive oil and salt in a separate vessel and keep it ready.
2. Similarly cook the vegetables ( broccoli,peas,carrots ) in microwave separately and keep it ready.
3. In the kadai, on a medium flame, start adding onions, cooked vegetables and saute it in Olive Oil for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add the grounded mixture onto the kadai and add salt, Italian seasoning powder and mix it perfectly.
5. Stir the mixture for another 4-5 minutes till the raw smell of the gravy goes off.
6. Add shredded cheese to the pasta and switch off the stove.
7. On top of the pasta, grate some Gouda cheese if you have and mix it perfectly.
8. While serving, add some Parmesan cheese on top of the pasta.

Variations
You can add more pepper powder if you want it little more spicy. Sometimes, after adding cheese it might reduce the spiciness of the pasta.

Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

Tomato Basil Pasta Salad

We've been growing vegetables and herbs in our small vegetable garden this summer and we are quite happy with the results too. Upon looking at the freshness, we get tempted to make some good healthy recipes using these home grown vegetables. Out of those, we decided to make a healthy pasta salad using our organic, home grown heirloom tomatoes, basil leaves, Green Pepper ( Capsicum ) and few red cherry tomatoes and pearl yellow tomatoes ( heirloom variety) as well. We included few black olives, Smoked cheese cubes ( as we like ) in our preparation too..Freshly made pasta salad tossed with olive oil, black pepper powder and Parmesan cheese was an ultimate dinner for us last night. Of course, we had few pita chips and red bell pepper home made hummus ( which i will post separately ) as sides and our favourite raspberry smoothie for our yummy dessert.

This menu would be best suited for lunch. As we could hardly feel a perfect dinner time during this summer due to very late sunset, we are fine with this dinner menu.!!!!

This is a good and easy option for picnic as its mostly liked by kids. Try this in your home and let me know your feedback.

I will post our favorites "Raspberry Smoothie" and "Red Bell pepper Hummus" in my following posts.

Home grown fresh vegetables except olives and smoked cheese

Ingredients

Tomatoes  - 2 Medium

Fresh Basil Leaves - 2 Cups ( finely crushed )

Red Cherry Tomatoes - 1 cup

Green Bell Pepper -- 1 Medium

Pitted Black Olives cut into halves - 3/4 cup

Salt - To Taste

Black Pepper Powder - As required.

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Lemon Juice - 3 tsp

Smoked Cheese cubes - 1/2 cup

Shell Pasta ( Small size ) - 2 cups uncooked.

Parmesan Cheese - To garnish.

Method

• Wash all the vegetables and keep them ready. Keep all the ingredients handy with a big salad mixing bowl.
• Cook the shell pasta in a separate container and keep the drained cooked pasta ready. In the mixing bowl, first add a layer of pasta and add the chopped green bell pepper. Follow this method till you add all the bell pepper into the bowl. Mix them gently.
• Secondly add all the cut tomatoes and the whole cherry tomatoes , crushed basil leaves, cheese cubes and the cut olives.
• Add Olive oil, required amount of salt,black pepper powder, lemon juice and mix the salad uniformly.
• Add Parmesan cheese at the end and mix gently. Now its ready to be served in your meal.

Tips / Variations

• You can add other cheese varieties of your choice in your salad. As we all like smoked cheese cubes, I added them in my salad. You can omit the cheese cubes too if you dont want to include cheese in your salad.
• I don't prefer to add other vegetables in this version of pasta salad. This is mainly to enjoy the freshness of basil and tomatoes and to retain its original flavour.
• Try to use small size pasta in your salad as it easily blends with the rest of the ingredients and looks good too in the salad.

HOW TO COOK Penne with tomato and basil sauce

• 0:05 Prep
 
• 0:20 Cook
 
• 4 Servings 
 
• Capable cooks
• 
  
• Sometimes the simplest things are the best as is the case with this super easy, but still tasty, pasta dish.

INGREDIENTS

• 500g Barilla Penne Rigate
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 800g can chopped Italian Roma tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon caster sugar
• 3/4 cup fresh basil leaves

METHOD

• Step 1
  Cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling salted water, following packet directions, until tender (approx 12 min). Drain. Return to saucepan.
• Step 2
  Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add tomatoes, sugar, and salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• Step 3
  Shred 1/2 cup of basil leaves. Stir into sauce. Add sauce to pasta. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until heated through. Spoon into bowls. Top with remaining basil leaves and freshly ground black pepper. Serve immediately.

Penne Pasta with fresh tomato, Zuccini and Basil Sauce

Italian cuisine is loved by all in our house and  I make ( or try!!!) Italian pasta with different sauces at home often. Last week, we were loaded with lots of fresh homegrown tomatoes, zucchinis, fresh basil given by our kind neighbour. So, I decided to make a tasty,creamy pasta sauce with these fresh homegrowns. The pasta was delicious with the side of  toasted fresh Jalapeno Olive Oil Bread.  Fresh basil leaves garnishing enhances the taste of the pasta dish definitely.

We could not resist extra servings to our plate and finally the kadai was empty..An excellent Italian dinner at home.!!!(Of course with very less cost).

Ingredients

Penne Pasta - 3 Cups

Fresh Tomatoes -  3 Big ones or 4 or 5 Medium Ones

Fresh Zucchini - 1 Medium

Fresh Basil Leaves Shredded - 1 cup

Garlic Pods - 3

Olive Oil - 3 tbsp

Black Pepper Powder - 2 tsp

Italian Seasoning Powder - 1 teaspoon

Oregano Seasoning Powder - 1\2 teaspoon

Salt - To Taste

Kraft Shredded Cheese ( Italian ) -  2 tbsp

Parmesan Cheese - To Taste

Method

• Cook the Penne Pasta in a big vessel with little Olive Oil and some salt. Mean time, cut the tomato, zucchini and basil leaves and keep them ready. Cut the Garlic Pods into small pieces and keep it ready.
• Keep all the ingredients that are required for making this pasta closer before starting the process.
• Drain the pasta after its cooked and keep it ready.
• In the kadai, add 2 tbsp of Olive Oil first. When its heated up, add the shredded garlic pieces into it. Fry them for a minute and then add tomatoes to it.
• After few minutes, add the zucchini pieces to it and add little bit of salt and close the kadai with the lid. Let them cook on a medium flame for few minutes.
• Then, add black pepper powder and the seasoning powders to the kadai and mix them well.
• Add half a cup of fresh basil leaves ( shredded ) into the kadai and mix it well.
• Add the cooked Penne Pasta into the mixture now. Add required amount of salt to the kadai and mix them well.
• Add 1 tbsp of Olive Oil now and let everything cook on a medium flame for a minute or more.
• Switch off the flame. Now add the Italian shredded cheese into the pasta and stir it. You can add more black pepper to the pasta if you want it to be more spicy.
• Now garnish the Penne Pasta with some shredded fresh basil leaves and serve the pasta into a pasta plate.
• Add a dash of Parmesan Cheese on top of the pasta and serve with a side of some toasted speciality bread.

Variations

I used the Kraft Shredded Cheese Italian Variety for making this pasta. You can use any other good cheese variety of your choice.

You can adjust the spice level with the black pepper powder to your taste.

You can add more Italian cheese if you like a rich creamy pasta.

Tips

Add the cheese after you switch off the flame and just before serving the pasta. Melted Cheese makes the pasta dish creamy just before serving.

Don't forget to garnish the pasta with fresh basil leaves at the end.

Don't over cook the zucchini pieces and also the penne pasta.

Mint Coriander Pesto

Mint Coriander Pesto

Lots of fresh mint leaves and coriander bunches in the fridge really tempted me to make this Pesto. Though I am a hardcore fan of the regular Basil Pesto, I tried this version and served with a butterfly shaped Farfalle Pasta. It was indeed very tasty with few coats of Olive Oil, Parmesan Cheese on its top. I customized the Pesto and made it little spicy as we wanted. With a side of Minestrone Soup, I tried to bring some Italian Flavour into our Kitchen during dinner last night....

Ingredients
Coriander Leaves Bunch - 1 Big
Mint Leaves - 1 Bunch
Walnuts - 1 Full Handful or 1 Cup
Garlic Pods - 2 or 3
Black Pepper Seeds - 1 tsp
Lemon Juice - 1/4 Cup
Grated Parmesan Cheese - 1 tbsp
Green Chili - 1 Medium
Salt - To Taste
Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Method 

Roast the raw walnuts slightly on medium heat. Switch off the flame. On the heated pan, add the coriander leaves, mint leaves, garlic pods, green chili, black pepper seeds and toast them slightly with the existing heat. Grind them together with all the other ingredients in a mixer grinder coarsely. ( Not a fine paste ). Store it in a glass container as we might use it for a week.

Pasta with Mint Coriander Pesto

Cook the Pasta with little salt and keep them ready. In the cooking pan, add 3 tsp of Olive Oil. When its heated, add the cooked pasta and few spoons of Pesto as required and required amount of salt, black pepper powder and stir them nicely for 2-3 minutes. Add grated Parmesan cheese on its top just before serving on the plate. A healthy, quick meal is fixed and also a good treat for the kids.

HOW TO MAKE Basic Pesto / Simple Pesto / Italian Pesto

Basic Pesto / Simple Pesto / Italian Pesto



Italian Lunch : Pennie coated with pesto, garden salad using home grown

cherry tomatoes dressed with raspberry vinaigrette



Ever Since I tasted the Pennie Pasta coated with the green delicious pesto, I have become addicted to that greenish oil and herb sauce. I never fail to taste this pesto at least once a month. Not only me, my family loves this pesto and urge me to make this more often in my kitchen. As its abundant during summer, we could enjoy our home made pesto this time using our home grown fresh basil leaves.

Though Basil leaves are prominently featured in Italian cuisine, its originally a native of India. Health benefits of basil is mainly due to the essential oils present in basil, and its widely used in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, stress related issues due to its antiviral, antioxidant properties. There are many varieties of basil found in the world and their culinary use varies with different regions.





Ingredients




Fresh Basil Leaves - 2 Cups packed
Garlic Pods - 3
Olive Oil - 1/2 cup
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
Broken Walnuts - 1/2 cup
( Pine nuts can be substituted if available ).
Black Peppercorns - 1/2 tbsp
( Add more pepper powder if you want to ).
Salt - To Taste.


Method

Wash the basil leaves and keep ready. Dry roast the walnuts and black peppercorns first. Then grind them in a mixer grinder coarsely along with other ingredients. Add salt and black pepper powder according to your taste at the end. Keep the sauce in an air tight container. Add portions of this pesto to the cooked pasta and thoroughly mix this with the pasta and enjoy with a side of  a garden salad and fresh sparkling apple cider. A perfect Italian meal on any special day in your life.

HOW TO MAKE Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup, is a thick Italian Soup which is made with vegetable stock, tomatoes, onion, celery, carrots and other vegetables with an addition of some pasta and beans. If you wish to have a wholesome meal at nights, you can very well go for this soup. It fills the stomach and the soup contains everything needed for an one time meal. Happy to mention that some leftover soup was totally enjoyed by my daughter and she requested me to make this often.!!!

Ingredients

Tomato - 3 Big or 32 Oz Tomato Puree Can

Carrot -- 1 Medium

Potato - 1 Medium

Butternut Squash - 1 Cup cubed
Zucchini - 1 Medium

Green Pepper / Capsicum - 1/2 Medium

Celery Sticks - 2

Green Peas - 1 handful

White Onion - 1/2 Medium

Cooked Pasta - 1 Cup ( preferably mini size pasta )

Coriander Leaves or  Parsley  - 2 tbsp

Crushed Garlic - 2 tbsp

White beans / Red Beans cooked - 1/2 cup

Beans - 7 to 8 Medium

Vegetable Stock - 4 to 5 cups

Salt - To Taste

Dried Oregano Seasoning - 1 tsp
Dried Thyme Seasoning - 1 tsp
Dried Basil Seasoning - 1 tsp

Black Pepper Powder - As required

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Parmesan Romano Cheese - To Garnish on its top before serving

Method

• Wash and cut all the vegetables into tiny cubes. Keep them ready.
• In a thick bottomed soup pot or vessel, add the Olive Oil first. When its heated, add the crushed garlic and onion and fry them till golden brown. Then, add the other vegetables and fry them for 2-3 minutes. Cover the lid for a while tilll the tomatoes get mashy and cooked. Cook all the vegetables for another 3-4 minutes on a low flame.
• Add the vegetable stock now and if required, add some water into the pot and cook everything on a medium flame till the vegetables get cooked completely.
• Finally add the italian seasoning powder, required amount of salt, black pepper powder into it and allow them to get blended well for few more minutes.
• Garnish with parmesan cheese and shredded coriander leaves or Parsley ( of your choice ) and serve in a soup bowl. Serve with a side of toasted garlic bread.

Tips / Variations

You can add any seasonal vegetables of your choice while making this soup. I have not added few due to unavailability. In addition to Italian seasoning powder, we can add crushed basil leaves to make it more flavourful.