Category: Entree

We often think of Alfredo or Marinara sauce as base for pasta, but I decided to experiment with it by adding spinach and garlic to a basic white cheese sauce. As I recollect this, I realized that this is my first time flirting with creativity while cooking. The need stemmed from trying to figure out how to variate the everyday pasta in my daughter’s lunch box. Like every mother, I was focused on getting enough spinach in my “popeye”. So, I decided to implement this idea about six years back, and this combination was extremely successful with the kids. I had my daughter’s friends asking for several helpings of this, when this was a part of her lunch. In fond appreciation of one of my daughter’s friends, I shall rename this pasta as “Ankita’s Pasta”! Thanks for liking this and encouraging me to be innovative while cooking, Ankita. 

The spinach, cheese and garlic simmering on the gas stove is highly tempting, and the combination of green and white is an attractive and different combination on a pasta dish, that makes everyone give it a try and subsequently relish it.

Since this is often a lunch meal for my daughter, it is for sure a quick and easy dish to make in under half hour in the morning rush.

Recipe: Serving for 2-3 people

Cooking time  15 min.

Preparation time: 5 min.

Ingredients

• 3 cups Rigatoni Pasta
• 3 cups baby spinach leaves or chopped spinach
• 3 cups whole milk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 slices of cheese
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 2 pods of garlic crushed(optional)
• Salt to taste
• 6 cups of water for pasta
• 2 cups of water spinach.

Method

• Pressure cook pasta, water, salt and 1 tbsp oil to 4 whistles on medium high flame. 
• In a pan  put 21/2 cups of  milk, cheese, black pepper, 1 tbsp oil to boil.
• Cook spinach in a microwave, along with 2 cups of water for 3 min on high setting.
• Remove excess water from spinach.
• Using hand blender, blend the spinach to fine paste.
• When milk boil overs, add garlic, spinach and salt to taste.
• Add cornstarch to the remaining 1/2 cup of milk and mix thoroughly.
• Add the cornstarch milk, to the boiling milk.
• Simmer on low flame for 10-12 minutes.
• Drain the pasta of excess liquid, once the pressure cooker has cooled down.
• Add the pasta to spinach sauce and mix well and cook for 2-3 min.

• Serve hot.

Tips

Spinach can be boiled separately in  water for 7 min. if microwave is not available.

The sauce needs to be slight liquidy, as pasta will soak it up, and when eaten after several hours.

Jain Variation: This spinach sauce tastes equally delicious without garlic too! A garnish of fresh/dried basil leaves gives this spinach sauce a nice fragrance.

Instinct Factor

Cooking Spinach Pasta to the level of your choice. Alternatively the pasta can be boiled in 6 cups of water for about 12 min. 

Feel Factor

Healthy spinach pasta sauce for everyday pasta, that is fast to cook and extremely appetizing! Rigatoni and Penne Pasta are my favorite choices of pasta with this spinach cheese sauce.

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When I was first introduced to this dish, I was 7-8  years old, and I remember getting attracted to the green, white, and red colors on  a highly non-Indian looking entree in front of me. My mother had made Dolma, (a Greek dish modified for a vegetarian. Traditionally, Dolmas are served in grape leaves and the filling could be meat or rice.)  Some of the Greek Restaurants serve  grape leaves with rice and they have a tangy sour taste to it, which I was not able to relish, after being introduced to this vegetarian version. This version consists of green cabbage, which had the closest resemblance to the leaves, and lettuce was not heard of in India at that point of time.  The white sauce on the top flavored with butter, cheese and milk provides a smooth texture atop the soft  leaves and rice. When properly cooked, it fills your home with steamed aroma of cabbage and buttery flavor of the sauce that makes you feel hungry, earlier than usual!!

This recipe is a celebratory recipe, as it was awarded the first prize in a cooking contest, won by my mother, and judged by the famous late Mrs. Tarla Dalal. I  shall certainly miss Mrs. Dalal’s cooking creativity and guidance to youngsters and deeply regret her passing away this year.

I share this recipe with great delight and as a perfect ending to 2013 with a salute to the two cooking role models for me: my mother and Mrs. Tarla Dalal.

Here’s wishing you all, a delicious, nutritious, healthy, and colorful 2014!

 Recipe: 18 pieces of Dolma

Cooking time :  40 min Preparation : 20 min

Ingredients by Volume

For Dolma

• 1  large cabbage
• 1 1/2 cups rice
• 1/2 cup shelled green peas
• 20 pieces of cloves
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• salt to taste 
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 litre of water
• Tomato Ketchup for garnishing

For  Sauce

• 3 cups milk
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 slices of mozarella cheese
• 1 tsp salted butter
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 drops of lemon juice
• salt to taste 

Method For Dolma:

• Slice the base of the cabbage.
• Separate each whole leaf of cabbage very gently, starting from the base.
• Scrape out gently the thick  s from the back of the cabbage leaf, keeping the leaf intact.
• 
• Put 1 litre of water to boil in a wide pan, and add a pinch of salt to it.
• When it boils, put 4/5 leaves in a pile to boil in the water.
• Cover and cook for 4 min.
• Wash the rice and soak it in 3 cups of water for about half and hour.
• Flip the leaves with a tong and cook and cover for further 4 min.
• Remove with tongs, and drain the excess water, by putting it over a wide strainer.
• Complete the boiling of the rest of the cabbage leaves and cool.
• Drain the water from the rice.
• Add peas, salt, black pepper and lemon juice to the rice and mix well.
• Take one cabbage leaf, pour 1 tbsp rice/peas mix in the center of the leaf.
• Fold the cabbage leaf inwards from all sides, making a triangle or a round shape
• 
• Insert the clove in the center, to prevent the cabbage leaf from opening.

• Grease the inside of a pressure cooker with 1 tsp melted ghee(butter)
• Place each piece gently into the cooker.
• At the corner, gently pour 1 cup of water.
• Sprinkle some rice/pea mix on top.
• Pressure cook to 4 whistles on medium high and remove from flame.
• Open the cooker after 20 minutes.

Sauce

• Add  cornstarch to 1/2 cup milk and mix it thoroughly.
• Heat  2 1/2  cups of milk, cheese,salt and pepper in a saucepan.
• When it boils, add the cornstarch mixed milk to it  and stir continuously.
• Cook for 5-6 minutes on slow- medium flame till the sauce thickens.

Serving the Dolma Place individual dolmas on a plate and pour white sauce on top and garnish with tomato ketchup and serve hot.  

Tips:

Using fresh green small size cabbages work the best. When buying cabbage, prefer a cabbage with loosely packed leaves, which will make it easier to remove the leaves. If it is possible to place a lid on top of the dolmas in the cooker, that keeps the rice and aroma in place, while being cooked.

Instinct Factor

Steam the cabbage leaves and rice for about 20 minutes on medium flame, if you do not have a pressure cooker and let it sit for another 20 minutes,

Feel Factor

An aromatic entree that is healthy, colorful, edgy in looks and highly appetizing!!  

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Quick rice based recipe for easy colorful meal with yogurt. The stir fried french beans , peas and carrots  in butter retains the attractive green and red color as well as the flavor of the vegetables. The rice is mildly flavored with the sweetness of big cardamom and the  garnish of ginger adds a crisp spicy flavor to the rice pulao. A recipe for a mild , light comforting meal. 

Recipe : 3 people

Cooking time :  45 min

Preparation time : 15 min

Ingredients

For Pulao

• 2 cups rice
• 1 carrot sliced in thin strips lengthwise
• I cup french beans sliced lenghtwise
• 1/2 cup shelled peas
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 big cardamoms
• 1 1/2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) for vegetables
• 1/2 tbsp ghee for rice
• pinch of asofoetida
• salt to taste
•  1 inch ginger very thinly sliced

Method

• Wash the rice thrice , add 4 cups of water soak for 20 minutes.
• Heat the ghee for rice  in a wide pan.
• Add the big cardamoms to ghee, and wait for it to become big.
• Add the bay leaves and saute till golden brown.
• Pour this in the rice.
• Add salt to taste and put the rice to cook in a rice cooker, or in a pressure cooker.
• In the same pan, now heat 1 1/2 tbsp ghee for vegetables.
• Add asofoetida.
• Add french beans and carrots and stir fry on high flame for 5 minutes.
• Add shelled peas,  and further saute for another 3 minutes.
• Add salt to taste and remove from flame after a minute.
• When the rice is cooked, spread the rice in a wide pan, add the french/beans carrots/peas /thinly sliced ginger and mix gently.
• Serve with Pomegranate Yogurt dip [aio_button align=”none” animation=”none” color=”blue” size=”small” icon=”search” text=”Recipe” relationship=”dofollow” url=”http://cookingbyinstinct.com/pomegranate-yogurt-dip/”] 

Tips:

Frozen french beans thinly sliced also work well in this recipe.

Jain Variation: Carrots can be replaced with sweet red peppers and instead of ginger garnish, 5-6 cloves can be added to the seasoning of ghee for the pulao. Dice the red peppers into thin long slices and stir fry along with french beans.

Instinct Factor

Aroma of cooked rice when cooking on the rice on the stove top in an open pan.

Feel Factor

An easy evening meal that is colorful and appetizing and your daily share of veggies.

 
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