Its Friday!
Finally!
How about some italian food tonight? No dining out, just buy a few ingredients and make this evening memorable indoors....:-)))
If I have your attention, I'll get straight to it.
Sundried tomato pesto *sold in a glass tin in most nakumatts and uchumis*
1 packet Rucola *salad*
Mozarella cheese
Pasta
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
2 Fresh thyme sticks
6 Fresh basil leaves
6 tomatoes
2 packets tomato paste
Vegetable/olive oil
Black pepper
1 tablespoon Royco
I started off by boiling the water for the pasta. Once it was hot I added the pasta and allowed it cook for about 10 min/ per instructions on packet.
Once the pasta was ready, I drained the hot water out and run through cold water to cool it off and a dash of oil so that the pasta doesn't stick together.
After that I chopped the garlic and onions and put in a sufuria to cook with vegetable oil.
After a min or so I grated the tomatoes and added them to the sufuria to cook. I also added about 5 spoons sundried pesto, the tomato paste, thyme, and basil leaves.
*Note: you dont have to add the entire thyme stick, just run your fingers through the whole stick removing the leaves*
After thar I added the meat and stirred it well with everything else. I allowed it to cook for a few minutes after which I added a cup of water mixed with 1 tablespoon royco, covered with lid and left to cook for another 15 minutes.
I also made sure that I checked and stirred occasionally, say every 5 minutes.
After that 15-20 minutes of cooking, the meat had cooked and the stew had thickened at this point. I then added some salt to taste and a bit more spice and another two spoons of the sundried tomato pesto for that final bang!!!
Once all the flavors were locked in, I removed from the heat and mixed in the cooked pasta.
You can add a dash of olive oil for more flavor and for the pasta and meat to mix well without being all smashed up.
I then cut up some mozarella slices and washed some rucola and served it all together.
The rucola gives it a very aromatic taste that perfectly compliments the pesto.
This was definitely one of the tastiest meals I've ever made.
I popped it in the microwave *without the rucola* to melt the cheese and it was incredibly flavorful and a quite a pretty plate as well.
Italian food isn't complete without a fresh baguette :-)
Enjoy!!!
Awaiting your feedback.
I'll have you know that:-
-I am officially on twitter on this account (@cookingwithjaz)
-I am also on facebook on this page "cooking with jaz"
-If you want to be featured on the "GUEST AND RECIPE OF THE WEEK" email me on "cookingwithjaz@yahoo.com"
Have a lovely weekend!
Looking forward to sharing all of my weekend endeavors :-)
Sincerely,
Jaz.
