Italian food: Sundried tomato pesto sauce with pasta & mozarella

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.

Ingredients:-

Mince meat 500gr
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.

Spaghetti and meat sauce with mushrooms

Hey guys
So for those of you who love pasta like I do, here's a simple italian recipe I learned from a frriend a few yrs ago.

Ingredients
Spaghetti 1 pack   

Minced meat
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1 onion
2 packets tomato paste
1 beef cube
2 courgettes
1 aubergine [also known as birighanya-hope Ive spelled it right :-) ]
1 red pepper [hoho]
2 tomatoes grated
1 packet mushrooms
cooking cream
Oregano
Basil
Thyme
black pepper
2 tablespoon Royco to thicken sauce
Edam cheese

Wash and chop up mushrooms and put in warm water with a dash of lime/lemon. Put aside. Cook onion and garlic with olive oil.
                                                                          

 

 

                                           

Chop up courgettes, aubergine and red pepper and add to sufuria.

Cook for a few minutes then add tomato paste and beef cube. Once its mixed up well, add meat and grated tomatoes and various spices.

 

Allow meat to cook and for vegetables to release all their juices then add the mushrooms, 1 cup water with royco, and cover to cook for a good 15 minutes. It could take less since the meat is minced so keep checking until brown.

When the meat is cooked and sauce is thickening add some cooking cream [half a cup] or you could constitute with natural plain yoghurt.

Boil water with oil and salt and add spaghetti to cook for 8 min.

 If you've ever wondered how to know when spaghetti is cooked, the italians usually throw one strand to the wall, if it sticks, its cooked. Try it, it works everytime.

Serve the meal and top it with grated cheese.

 Enjoy!!