Goat Cheese and Roasted Bell Pepper Panini on Sourdough Bread

I am in love with Trader Joe's 99% fat free whole wheat sourdough bread. Its been a staple in my kitchen for the last month. It tastes yummy and toasts really well. It makes an interesting base for sandwiches and tastes even better for breakfast with butter and orange marmalade. I whipped up this quick sandwich on a weekday when I had all the ingredients at hand and felt like eating a panini. It was a very tasty and quick dinner.

Ingredients:

1. Sourdough bread slices
2. Goat cheese
3. Pesto
4. Roasted bell peppers (I get a jar of this from Trader Joe's)
5. Sun dried tomatoes
6. Fresh basil leaves
7. Freshly ground pepper powder
8. Olive oil
9. Salt

Directions:

1. Take two slices of sourdough bread. Layer one with the goat cheese and other with the pesto.
2. Layer the sun dried tomatoes, roasted bell pepper and basil leaves.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper as needed and sandwich the two slices of bread.
4. Brush on both external sides with olive oil and grill in a panini press.
5. Cut the sandwich into two halves if it is too big and enjoy with soup or a salad.

Roasted Butternut Squash

Feb is the month of anniversary and Valentine's day celebrations and gives me an excuse to cook special stuff. I have been planning to re-create this roasted butternut squash dish we had a while ago while on holiday in Maui at this restaurant called 'Penne Pasta' . It is half a butternut squash loaded with butter, sage and slivered almonds and oven roasted till it is soft and delicious. Mine turned out to be close to it except I could not get myself to add as much butter. This dish holds very romantic memories of the good time we had in Maui. Incidentally, if you look at the cavity in the squash, its a heart shape:)

Ingredients:

1. Butternut squash - 1/2 sliced down the middle
2. Butter - 1.5 tbsps
3. Salt
4. Fresh black pepper - 1/2 tsp
5. Red chilli flakes - 1/2 tsp
6. Fresh sage - 4/5 leaves, chopped into ribbons
7. Slivered almonds - 1/2 cup

Directions:

1. Smother the butternut squash with 1 tbsp melted butter, salt, pepper and stick it in the over at 350 F. I had to bake it for almost 45 mins to get it soft but the bake time might vary depending on the oven. Use a fork to check the done-ness frequently after 30 mins have elapsed.
2. Toast the slivered almonds either in a pan or an oven until golden brown.
3. Take 1/4 tbsp of butter and sautee the chopped sage leave for 5 mins.
4. Top the bakes butternut squash with chilli flakes, toasted slivered almonds, sage leaves and the remaining butter while its still hot and enjoy.

Note: You may use parsley to flavor instead of sage if you are averse to its smell.

We re-did another dining experience by celebrating Valentine's day at Tigelleria which we discovered on our anniversary 2 years ago. We ordered a pear stuffed ravioli with walnut sauce, a cheese platter, a very pretentious salad and pesto fusili pasta. The dessert was pistaschio pannacotta which was served with a heart shaped spoon. A very satisfactory meal indeed!

Rosemary Potatoes

The rosemary plant in my garden is overflowing from the pot and I simply had to put it to good use. What better than to bake the classic combination of rosemary and potatoes! My kitchen was smelling like heaven when I popped them out of the oven. This makes an excellent side dish to go with any Italian salad or pasta.


Ingredients:

1. Red skinned potatoes - 2, washed and cut into any desired french-fry-like shape
2. Rosemary - 1/2 cup finely chopped
3. Salt
4. Coarsely crushed black pepper - 1/2 tsp
5. Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Directions:

1. Toss the potatoes with the rosemary, salt, pepper and olive oil.
   
2. Spread thinly on a baking sheet and bake at 400F for 20 minutes
3. Turn the oven to broil and broil on each side for 5-7 minutes or until the potatoes turn brown.
4. Let it cool for 5 mins and you are done!
   

Summer Tomatoes and A Simple Pasta

Its been an unusual summer for me this year. Not as many outdoor activities as I would have liked but have been enjoying my home a lot more. I started my spring cleaning in summer this week and accomplished a lot. Purging all the unwanted things in your life gives you such a good feeling and organizes your life and thoughts. My garden has bloomed wonderfully. Check out the cherry tomatoes and chillies in the pic below. Besides this I have rosemary, basil, thyme and mint which I use from time to time. The feeling of using herbs/veggies from your garden is awesome.



The simple pasta I made to use the cherry tomatoes was nothing more than boiled whole wheat pasta, pesto, pepper, crushed red pepper and tomatoes tossed together. The simplicity of the ingredients brought out the best flavor from the tomatoes.

Homemade Pizza Base

I used this recipe from my friend Vinitha's blog to make the pizza base and was delighted with how easy it was:) . One half of the pizza I topped with onions, capsicum, mozzarella cheese and mariana sauce and the other half was pesto, cherry tomatoes, basil and mozzarella cheeses and I obviously liked the pesto half better. I am definitely going to make more of the homemade base going forward and do away with the frozen crust I use.

Baked Broccoli

This picture may not look as appealing but it sure tasted good. I read some recipe online a while back but cannot remember where. So I may fail to link to the right blog/website but the credit certainly goes to whoever blogged about this first. It is very simple and the result is very flavorful. I did make some changes like adding crushed red pepper which made it yummier and I will take the credit for that;)

Ingredients:

1. Small Broccoli florets (about 2 inches each) - 15/20
2. Salt
3. Freshly crushed black pepper - 1 tsp
   
4. Olive oil - 3 tsps
5. Crushed red pepper - 1 tsp
6. Lemon zest - 1 tsp
7. Dried oregano - 1/4th tsp
8. Italian bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
9. Parsesan cheese (I use regiano) - 1/2 cup
   

Directions:

1. Add 2 tsps of olive oil, salt, pepper, oragano and crushed red pepper to the broccoli florets and mix well. Lay it out on a baking sheet and bake for 15 mins at 350 degrees.
2. Once you see the broccoli crisping on the outside but still having the crunch remove it from the oven.
3. Mix in lemon zest with the baked broccoli and top with mizture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and olive oil.
4. Broil for 2 minutes until the cheese melts and bred crumbs become brown.

Enjoy this as a side dish or just by itself. It is really tasty :)

Roasted Eggplant and Red Pepper Panini

Here comes yet another panini recipe. This was inspired by a goat cheese sandwich recipe I saw on Barefoot Contessa on food network. It does need a few special ingredients but the end result is really yummy.

Ingredients:

1. Ciabatta bread
2. Kalamata olive spread - 2 tsps
3. Red pepper - 1 sliced thin
4. Eggplant - 1 cup of small chopped cubes
5. Dried oregano - 1 tsp
6. Dried thyme - 1/2 tsp
7. Olive oil - 2tsp
8. Balsamic vinegar - 2 tsps
9. Mozzarella - 3 slices per panini
10. Salt
11. Pepper
    

Directions:

1. Mix the red peppers and eggplant with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and drizzle of olive oil and spread on a tray lined with aluminum foil. Bake in 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool for 10 mins.
2. Slice the ciabatta bread through the middle and spead the kalamata olive spread on both the slices.
3. Layer on slice with the cheese, eggplant and red pepper. Sprinkle salt and black pepper and top with other slice. Heat in panini press until done.
4. Prepare a vinegarette with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Once the panini is done, open the sandwich slightly and drizzle with the balsamic vinegarette. Eat while it is hot and it lasts :)

Italian Pesto-Veggie Panini

My hubby got me a panini press for our anniversary and valentine's day and I have been obsessed with paninis ever since. I can now make a panini that tastes exactly like the ones they serve in those Italian bistros. This was the first one that I tried out of my most favorite Italian ingredients and its was super yummy! This panini press (the brand is Bella Cucina) is simply awesome and I look forward to trying out a lot many recipes. I already have a dessert panini recipe lined up alongside roasted eggplant panini. Yay!!!



Ingredients:

1. Focassia bread (I had a herb focassia but any other baguette or ciabatta should also be just as good)
2. Pesto sauce - 3 tsps per panini
3. Grape tomatoes - 10 per panini
4. Fresh mozzarella cheese
5. Sun dried tomatoes (julienned) - 1 tbsp per panini
6. Fresh basil leaves - 3 per panini
   
7. Kalamata olives - 1 tbsp chopped per panini
   
8. Olive oil
   
9. Salt
10. Pepper

Directions:

1. Slice the focassia all the way through the center and spread the pesto on the cut side of both slices.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper to garnish.
3. Layer one slice with the mozzarella, tomatoes, olives, sun dried tomatoes and basil leaves and top with the other slice.
4. Pre-heat the panini grill.
   
5. Brush the outer sides with olive oil and press using panini grill so that you have enough grill marks.
   

6. Cook the panini until done and slice into two pieces. Enjoy hot!!!

Masala Macaroni

I call this the desi version of mac and cheese. Typical to desi food it has a lot of spices and just a little cheese to retain the Italian effect. The cheese again is Amul cheese which is as desi as cheese can get:). I used to make this a lot when I was in India and I think the origin was something similar that my friend used to bring for lunch. My mom likes this much better than the authentic versions and I love making this for her:) This is also an easy way to feed veggies to kids as they have an inexplicable bond with mac'n'cheese.



Ingredients:

1. Elbow macaroni - 1 packet
2. Carrots - 2 chopped into small pieces
3. Beans - ~25 chopped into small pieces
4. Onion - 1 big sliced
   
5. Peas - 1 cup
6. Ginger - 1 inch piece chopped fine
7. Garlic - 3 pods chopped fine
8. Amul cheese slices - 3 or 4 chopped into small pieces
   
9. Garam masala - 1/4th tsp
10. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
11. Dried red chillies - 2
12. Curry leaves - 8
13. Lemon
    
14. Oil - 1 tsp
    
15. Salt

Directions:

1. Boil the elbow macaroni in hot water until it is a little underdone. Drain and keep aside.
   
2. Heat oil and add the curry leaves, dried chillies, ginger and garlic and let it cook for 1 min.
   
3. Add the sliced onion and cook until golden brown.
4. Add the rest of the veggies and cook until a little soft.
5. Add the garam masala, salt and chilli powder and the cooked macaroni. Mix well and place a lid and let it cook for 2 mins.
6. Turn off the gas and add half the cheese and mix in. Squeeze some lemon juice and mix in. Use the rest as a garnish before serving and enjoy hot!

Note: If you want this dish healthier, you can skip the cheese altogether and this dish would still taste yummy. You can also use a whole wheat version of the macaroni.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne

This is a yummy dish inspired by Nupur's (of One Hot Stove) lovely recipe of Roasted Squash-Onion Lasagna




I made the following modifications -

1. Instead of lasagna sheets I used a whole wheat penne. This is purely because I did not have lasagna sheets on hand when I made it but the whole wheat penne went really well with the butternut squash and the bechamel and gave it an earthy flavour and good bite.
   
2. I rubbed some dry italian herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano on the butternut squash and onion before roasting.
3. Before baking I topped the whole thing with a mixture of grated Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs instead of just the Parmesan cheese.
4. While making the bechamel sauce, I added some chopped garlic to the butter before the flour to give a garlicky flavor to the sauce.
5. I also shallow fried some sage leaves in olive oil and added it to the mixture before baking.

Thanks Nupur for this lovely recipe! i really enjoyed making it and eating it:)

Baked Ravioli

This recipe was a by product of my need to finish up a huge packet of frozen spincach ravioli from Costco. The first time I made it with a tomato basil base but the use of pesto for this dish, like any other, improves it phenomenally. Now my hubby loves this so much that I always make excess and it also recently won the title of "Best Veggie Dish" and "Best Comfort Food" in my office potluck. So here goes.....




Ingredients:

• Frozen or fresh spinach ravioli or any ravioli of your choice - 20/25 ravioli pieces
  
• Cherry tomatoes - 15-20
• Bell peppers julienne cut- all colors and any number you like
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Olives (chopped)
  
• Pine nuts - handful
• Pesto Sauce - 1 cup (I user Trader's Joe's pesto but you could make your own)
• Basil leaves julienne cut- 5/6 (optional)
• Mozarella cheese grated - 1 cup
  
• Parmesan cheese grated - 1 cup
• Sale to taste
• Crushed red pepper
• Crushed black pepper
• Olive oil
• Whole Garlic
  

Directions:

• Heat water with some salt and boil the ravioli until al-dente (not too soft and still has some bite left to it)
• In a pan, heat some olive oil and toast the pinenuts and garlic until brown
• Saute the bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, olives and sun dried tomatoes until semi cooked
• Add the pesto sauce, crushed black and red pepper and some salt to taste to the cooked veggies
  
• In a baking pan, layer the bottom with the ravioli. Top it with a layer of the veggies with pesto and a light layer of mozarella chese , parmesan cheese and basil leaves
  
• Add another layer of ravioli and veggies
• Top with mozarella first and then parmesan. When broiled the parmesan will harden up on the top giving a crispy crust.
• Stick the baking pan in the oven preheated at 350F for 15-20 mins or until you see a golden brown crust on top
• Serve with fresh grated parmesan cheese and chopped basil on top.

Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1) Fresh Tomatoes (1-2)
2) French bread / Baguette
3) Olive oil
4) Balsamic vinegar
5) Olives
6) Chopped Garlic
7) Parmesan cheese
8) Red chilly flakes
9) Chopped mushrooms
10) Sun dried tomatoes or sundried tomamto paste


Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 300F.
2) Cut the bread into 1/2 inch thick slices.
3) If you have sun dried tomato paste, spread a littls on each slice. Top the slices with the chopped tomatoes, garlic, olives, sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms.
4) Place them in the oven on a cookie sheet and let them bake for 10 minutes.
5) Top the slices with a 1/4 spoon of olive oil each and bake them for 5 more minutes. When the edges start browning, take the slices out of the oven.
6) Before serving, top the slices with a lil balsamic vinegar, parmesan cheese, chilly flakes and if you like the flavour, oregano.

Note: This is an ideal starter to have with red wine and if your main course is pasta. Really easy to make and tastes great. If you do not want the toppings to be hot, bake the slices and then add the toppings.