Layered Pasta bake with broccoli

I got to buy some fresh broccoli over the weekend. I was thinking of making a broccoli pesto sauce that I had seen while food gawking on the internet. Since I have run out of any kind of nut that I could use in the pesto, I decide on making a pasta bake. The alternate was a quiche but that would mean having to see the pack of pasta lying as is.

Broccoli is one vegetable that I've seen in the exotic section of every super market. This veggie is actually found so easily in the local market in Ooty and at a much cheaper price. Earlier I used to refuse to reach out for it cause of the exorbitant MRP displayed. Now, as I keep trying out different dishes and like to choose different veggies, this gets into the basket once in a while.

Broccoli has a very high iron content and I've seen it in many forms in the dabbas of pregnant and anaemic women. When buying broccoli, stay away from the ones which are turning brown at the tips of the florets.

Now, when it comes to this dish, the seasoning is all that matters. So ensure you add sufficient salt and pepper.

Equipment used :

• gas stove
• convection bake option in combination microwave
• round cake tin

Difficulty : Easy

Preparation time : 15 minutes

Cooking time : 25 minutes + 30 minutes for baking

Ingredients (Serves 2 as main course):

1. 1/2 cup of macaroni shell
2. 1/4 cup milk
3. 2 eggs
4. 1 head of broccoli
5. 1 largeonion chopped
6. 4 tomatoes chopped
7. 1 large pod of garlic chopped finely
8. 1 tbsp butter
9. 1 tsp olive oil
10. 2 tsp pepper (adjust according to taste)
11. 1/4 cup or more of grated cheddar cheese
12. Breadcrumbs - optional
13. Salt to taste

 How I made it :

1. Cook the pasta as per the instructions on pack. Reserve the hot water.
2. Put florets of broccoli into the hot water, while you chop onions, garlic and tomatoes.
3. In a pan, put in the garlic, butter and oil.
4. Turn on the flame and let the butter melt and oil get heated up.
5. Put in the onions and fry till translucent and pink.
6. Add the tomatoes and cook till soft.
7. Add the broccoli florets without the water. Discard the water now.
8. Add salt and pepper and let the broccoli cook. Turn off heat when the broccoli is 80% cooked.
9. In another bowl, beat the eggs and add milk. Add a little salt and pepper.
10. Preheat oven at 180 degree C
11. In a cake tin, layer with pasta.
12. Next put the broccoli mix.
13. Next sprinkle the cheese, as much as you like.
14. Pour over the egg and milk mixture.
15. I had some bread crumbs which I sprinkled on the top. This can be avoided. 
16. Bake for 30 minutes until top is golden brown.
17. Serve hot with tomato ketchup.

6

Mac Cheese n Egg

Baked vegetables with toasted bread used to be a dinner that my entire family used to like. My aunt , who did not have an oven for sometime, used to make it on the gas stove using two hot tawas. I've done that too, when there have been power cuts. I was reminded of my ma's baked veggies when I had the pleasure of tasting this yummy mac n cheese dish. In the following grocery shopping session I had picked up macaroni from the store. I forgot about it until I found this packet when trying to empty all the jars in my kitchen. So here's how I made it.

I am Sending to Know Your Dairy – Cheese and Jagruti’s Page. Thanks to Sowmya from Nivedhanam's for this opportunity.

Ingredients (Serves 4 with bread) :

1. 100 g macaroni shell/elbow
2. 100g +25g cheddar cheese
3. 1 cup milk
4. 1 1/2 tbsp butter
5. 1 tbsp maida
6. 2 tsp fresh ground pepper corns
7. Salt to taste
8. 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
9. Finely chopped carrot, zapped in the microwave on high for 2 minutes (optional)
10. 4 small brinjal/eggplant, sliced and pan fried with a little oil and salt.(optional)
11. Bread crumbs - optional
12. Egg - optional

How I made it :

1. Preheat oven at 180 degree C.
2. Boil the macaroni as per instructions on the pack.  Drain, rinse in cool water and keep aside. I added some finely chopped carrots and pan fried eggplant at the bottom.
3. Grate 100g cheese into milk and gently warm to melt the cheese in the milk.
4. In a pan, heat the butter.
5. Add the maida and fry. Don't let it burn or turn colour. Keep stirring.
6. Add the warm milk little by little, making sure that there are no lumps. 
7. Add salt and pepper. Let this bubble until it coats the back of the spoon as shown in the picture.
8. Pour this over the macaroni and veggies. 
9. Next top with the tomato ketchip.
10. Grate 25g cheese on top.
11. Sprinkle bread crumbs.
12. Break an egg over the top. I got this idea from another healthy recipe involving a bake made from potatoes and chickpeas.
13. Put into oven and bake for 30 minutes. 
14. Serve hot. Since this is a complete pasta type dish, you can skip the bread. 

It had a nice crust on the top because of the bread crumbs and the egg and veggies gave it a nice healthy twist.

3

Bombay Toast

It's a sunday and I consider bread and egg the ideal sunday start. So this sunday I decided to make bombay toast. I made them with olive oil, which is neutral and does not affect the flavor of the dish. I used to think that extra virgin olive oil should not be heated up but after watching Aditya Bal do it on "Olive it up", I decided that I too could do that once in a while.

Ingredients (For 5 slices of bombay toast) :

1. 3 eggs
2. 5 slices of bread - I used Nilgiris multigrain bread, taking advantage of having a Niligiris 1905 store near my place
3. 1/4 cup milk
4. 1 tbsp sugar
5. 1 tsp vanilla extract
6. a pinch of salt
7. Olive oil/Butter - 2 tbsp

How I made it :

1. Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla extract and salt together.
2. Heat a tawa.
3. Add some olive oil to the hot tawa.
4. Dip a slice of bread in the egg mix ensuring that it absorbs quite a bit of it and place this on the tawa.
5. Let it cook for a minute on each side on low flame. 
6. Repeat with other slices of bread.
7. I served mine with my homemade strawberry preserve. 

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Spicy Mushroom and Egg curry

Well, I wanted to eat something really spicy when I got home after work. I remembered Namratha's spicy egg curry which I've made quite a few times before but I also had a pack of mushrooms which I had to finish so I combined the two together and the result was quite good.

Here's a pic of what went into my dabba so sorry for a not-so-good picture.

Ingredients (serves 2 as a side dish to chapatis):

1. 2 hard boiled eggs
2. 200g mushrooms cleaned and quartered
3. 1 large onion finely sliced or chopped - I sliced them finely with my new Pure Komachi series knife
4. 1 large country tomato
5. 1 tsp garam masala powder
6. 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
7. 1/2 tsp coriander/dhania powder
8. Salt to taste
9. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
10. water - 1 teacup
11. 1 tbsp oil
12. Chopped coriander for garnish

How I made it :

1. In a pan, heat the oil.
2. Add the mustard seeds. Cover and let the spluttering stop.
3. Now add the onions and fry till the turn pink.
4. Once onions are pink, add the mushrooms and cook them as per your liking. I wait till all the water that they leave our evaporates.
5. Now, add the tomatoes, red chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and let the fat separate.
6. Add about 1 teacup of water and let it come to a boil.
7. Drop in halved boiled eggs and the garam masala powder.
8. Cover and let it simmer for about 8 minutes.
9. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with rotis/chapatis.

0

Egg Curry

We got this Aachi Egg Curry Powder free with a pack of 6 eggs. Since I had some coconut in the fridge, I thought that this curry would be the best way to use it up. Here is their recipe. I followed the recipe on the back of the packet. I served it with rice and keerai poriyal.

Ingredients (serves 4) :

1. 4 hard boiled eggs
2. 3 medium sized onions, finely sliced
3. 1/2 cup fresh coconut
4. 1 packet of Aachi Egg Curry Powder
5. 2 tbsp oil
6. 2 cups of water
7. Salt to taste
8. Coriander to garnish

How I made it :

1. Grind the coconut with 2 cups of water.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil.
3. Add the sliced onions.
4. Fry the onions till they turn dark golden brown.
5. Add the coconut and water paste.
6. Add the egg curry powder.
7. Fry till the curry thickens - about 10-12 minutes
8. Add salt.
9. Put in the halved boiled eggs.
10. Turn off heat. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This was truly delicious. My mom sometimes tells me to buy these readymade powders as they have the perfect mix of the coriander, cumin, red chilli and other spice powders. I usually dismiss her suggestion but I think that henceforth, I may be reaching out for these mixes once in a while.

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