The salted chocolate blog : pasta

Showing posts with label pasta. Show all posts

Juicy roasted cherry tomatoes and pasta. The perfect way to use up the abundance of tomatoes at home. When you bite in, the tomatoes burst and release they beautiful juices that forms the sauce for this super easy pasta. So so good.

My aunt gifted me with a bag of cherry tomatoes a few days ago. They were bright rosy red, with little green stalks on top, and looked absolutely gorgeous. I knew I needed to make something with it.

Today as I was on the way home I thought about lunch. I needed something quick, healthy and easy after these few days of snacking on cookies and peanut butter and chocolate as I mugged for my exams.

I thought of roasted cherry tomato pasta. I couldn't concentrate in class anymore.

Let me tell you how easy this is.

You slice the tomatoes in half, add some chopped garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and some herbs. My favourites are dried basil, dried parsley and some chilli flakes for an added kick. Oregano works wonderfully too. Pop them into the oven for 15 minutes at 190 degrees celsius.

Before you put them in, get a pot of water boiling and add your pasta. I use fusilli because no. 1 if cooks quickly and no. 2 you can use a small pot to cook it. (Yes I'm awfully lazy when it comes to washing.) Turn your heat to medium-low and get out of the kitchen. While the oven and stove were working, I took a quick bath that lasted 13 minutes. When I came out, everything was on it's way to being served.

When the tomatoes are done and the pasta is al dente, dish it out. A few shavings of Parmesan would be perfect, but I promise when you eat the tomatoes and pasta together you are in heaven. The tomatoes are still in shape, but when you bite into them, the juices burst in your mouth and your can taste the sweet juices and the savoury spices. It's as if it forms it's own sauce with the pasta. It's really really good.

I'm making this again tomorrow with the leftover tomatoes. Definetly need more pasta in my cupboard.

Juicy roasted cherry tomatoes and pasta. The perfect way to use up the abundance of tomatoes at home. When you bite in, the tomatoes burst ...

I'm so happy. Well, not exactly. It's like you know you've got a weekend with lots of work to done and exams coming up and you have got a hungry stomach but you don't feel like doing anything. Well, anyway.

Let's get straight to these.

Doesn't the salmon look amazing? It's perfectly baked in the oven and it cooks in no time. Salmon is one of my favourite fish, because it doesn't have too strong a fishy taste and it's really versatile.

I simply seasoned this fish with a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and some onion and garlic herb seasoning. That's the trick to make people think you toiled in the kitchen for the whole day. When it took you only 1 minute to season the fish and 15 minutes in the oven.

Now the pasta. I freeze my pasta once I've made it by putting them individually on a sheet of parchment paper and put them all in a large freezer bag. That way, whenever you need pasta cooked in 5 minutes, you've got them waiting in the freezer. Just cook them while they are frozen (no need to thaw them), throw them into a pot and cook them until theny float to the surface.

And they look super cute.

Grilled Salmon with Homemade Bow-Tie Pasta

Serves 1

Ingredients for the Grilled Salmon

1 salmon fillet

1 tablespoon of oil

1 teaspoon garlic and onion herb seasoning (alternatively, replace with 1 teaspoon of fresh minced garlic and onion each)

Pinch of salt and pepper

Dry the salmon fillet in between pieces of paper towels, until they are only slightly moist.

Place the salmon fillet skin side up on a baking sheet or tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs, salt and pepper.

Massage them into the fish.

Bake for 180 degrees celsius until the skins are scorched and the salmon is cooked through.

Homemade Bow-Tie Pasta

1 cup all purpose flour

1 egg

(A cup flour serves about 1. Feel free to double or triple the recipe as needed.)

Make a well in the centre of the flour and add the egg in.

Mix with your hands or a spatula until a shaggy dough forms.

Add more flour or a sprinkle of water if the dough is too wet or too dry. The dough should be smooth and should not stick to your hands.

Let the dough rest covered loosely with plastic wrap for about 10-30 minutes. This helps to loosen the gluten in the dough and make it even easier to work with.

Roll out the dough thought a pasta machine or a rolling pin. Cut the dough into small squares.

Pinch the squares together and set aside on a parchment line baking sheet.

Place the baking sheet in the freezer to freeze for 30 minutes or longer before placing them in a freezer bag.

I'm so happy. Well, not exactly. It's like you know you've got a weekend with lots of work to done and exams coming up and you h...