Well, I know I know that I have been very naughty and haven't been updating my recipes regularly. It was of course the lazy me, but of course it was also because I haven't been cooking much. I had decided to go a bit slow on my eating heavy greasy food for sometime. What with me gorging heavy fried food and sweetmeats ever since Durga Puja. Not that I haven't cooked at all, but yea I also didn't get to click beautiful pictures of my food. That is another reason I haven't been able to update my blog.
Anyhoo now that I am back to cooking I think I will be more regular (meaning 1 recipe per week lol). I remember being fascinated by pasta right from my childhood. At that time this used to be the kind of food that is reserved for some very special occasions, and those used to be really rare. So much so that me and my younger brother would at times actually beg mom to take out the oven and dish out the heavenly "Chicken in White Sauce" that she makes. In fact that recipe by mom is still a novelty for us and in fact though I try and follow her exact instructions, I still cant get the white sauce as delicious as her. Well, in certain things I guess one can't really compete with mommies. But right now I am not about to give you that recipe. I think I started talking about my mom coz I had made Bolognese Pasta. And I fell in love with Italian cuisine because of mom introducing us to white sauce when we were kids.
Well, for all of you who aren't familiar with Bolognese sauce or tend to confuse it with a sauce with tomato as the base (like I used to, at first) here is the bomb. Bolognese is actually a meat sauce. Tomato is just one of the ingredient that is used here, more to add texture and a little colour. Traditionally it is made with red meat or atleast mutton, and the sauce actually takes about 4-5 hours to make-it is slow cooked to get a smooth silky texture. But for us lesser mortals who is always crunched for time, I have a version made in chicken and ready in half an hour. Here goes it :)
One very important ingredient used in making the Bolognese sauce is called Soffrito which is prepared by frying equal quantities of carrot, celery and onion diced into really small pieces. It looks something like this:
Ingredients:
1 small carrot- diced as above
1 medium onion- diced
1 stalk of celery
2 small strips of bacon diced similarly
1 pod of garlic, crushed
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup milk
250 gms minced chicken
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 small tomato, diced
Pepper, crushed
Salt, to taste
Parmesan Cheese- a small bit grated well
Olive oil- about 2 tbsp
Pasta- boiled, tagliatelle is generally preferred, but I had the hollow rigati macroni with me, so I used that
Method:
Boil the pasta in salted water, drain and then run them through cold water so that the pasta doesn't stick to each other.
To make the sauce:
Heat olive oil in a deep dish pan, and put in the onion, celery and carrot. Fry for sometime, till it browns but not burns. Then add the crushed garlic and salt. Fry for a minute more. Add the diced bacon at this point. The fat from the bacon will add more smell to the soffrito mixture and you will also feel a smoky flavour wafting. Keep frying and when you feel the mixture sticking to the pan, add the chicken bit by bit. Keep working your spatula, and add the chicken bit by bit. When all the liquid from the chicken evaporates and it starts sticking to the pan, put the gas in sim. Scrape the brown from the pan and work on the chicken. Add the wine at this point and increase the flame of the gas. When the wine has evaporated add the tomato and fry for sometime. Once the tomato has blended well in the mixture, add the crushed pepper, milk and chicken stock. Put the gas in sim and simmer for about ten minutes. Once done add the pasta to the sauce and top with the cheese. The awesome homemade Chicken Bolognese Pasta is ready.
Well, for all of you who aren't familiar with Bolognese sauce or tend to confuse it with a sauce with tomato as the base (like I used to, at first) here is the bomb. Bolognese is actually a meat sauce. Tomato is just one of the ingredient that is used here, more to add texture and a little colour. Traditionally it is made with red meat or atleast mutton, and the sauce actually takes about 4-5 hours to make-it is slow cooked to get a smooth silky texture. But for us lesser mortals who is always crunched for time, I have a version made in chicken and ready in half an hour. Here goes it :)
One very important ingredient used in making the Bolognese sauce is called Soffrito which is prepared by frying equal quantities of carrot, celery and onion diced into really small pieces. It looks something like this:
Ingredients:
1 small carrot- diced as above
1 medium onion- diced
1 stalk of celery
2 small strips of bacon diced similarly
1 pod of garlic, crushed
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup milk
250 gms minced chicken
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 small tomato, diced
Pepper, crushed
Salt, to taste
Parmesan Cheese- a small bit grated well
Olive oil- about 2 tbsp
Pasta- boiled, tagliatelle is generally preferred, but I had the hollow rigati macroni with me, so I used that
Method:
Boil the pasta in salted water, drain and then run them through cold water so that the pasta doesn't stick to each other.
To make the sauce:
Heat olive oil in a deep dish pan, and put in the onion, celery and carrot. Fry for sometime, till it browns but not burns. Then add the crushed garlic and salt. Fry for a minute more. Add the diced bacon at this point. The fat from the bacon will add more smell to the soffrito mixture and you will also feel a smoky flavour wafting. Keep frying and when you feel the mixture sticking to the pan, add the chicken bit by bit. Keep working your spatula, and add the chicken bit by bit. When all the liquid from the chicken evaporates and it starts sticking to the pan, put the gas in sim. Scrape the brown from the pan and work on the chicken. Add the wine at this point and increase the flame of the gas. When the wine has evaporated add the tomato and fry for sometime. Once the tomato has blended well in the mixture, add the crushed pepper, milk and chicken stock. Put the gas in sim and simmer for about ten minutes. Once done add the pasta to the sauce and top with the cheese. The awesome homemade Chicken Bolognese Pasta is ready.
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