Spaghetti Bolla-nese
One of the things The Boyfriend and I readily agree about is that pasta is one of the best comfort foods in the world (it's right up there with niku udon from Ichiban Boshi and stewed beef la mian from Crystal Jade, at least for me). There's something comforting about carbs slathered in protein-rich sauce and topped off with curling slivers of cheese, like yellow question marks pondering about the inevitability of life while slowly melting into the sauce.
Last night, because it was the last night before Ramadan -- and therefore, fasting for at least one of us -- I decided to put together some spaghetti bolognese. Note that this is spaghetti and not the usual short and/or tubular pasta that I use around the house. Rather, I managed to score some tagliatelli nests at the grocery the other day and decided to use them for this particular recipe.
So I chop up some chilli sausages (because I'm Filipino like that, yo), quarter button mushrooms, and mince my garlic, roasted bell peppers (at SGD 5 a pop for a jar, it's a steal), and basil leaves (SGD 1 a packet, with enough leaves for about three dishes). Then I get the rice cooker pot and fill it up with water, salt, and oil, and dump my tagliatelli nests in them. Yes I know, you are aghast now. But seriously, rice cookers make very good pots as well, especially when boiling stuff like pasta or potatoes.
Then I get my pan, dump it on the electric hot pot, and turn the heat up. I get my trusty olive oil from the pantry and get everything nice and hot. Saute the garlic and bell peppers first, then dump in the sausage slices until they're just at that point when you can see the surface browning. Then my minced beef goes inside and I just let them all get to know each other because cooking, like life, is just like that.
Once my beef is browned, I stir in my quartered mushrooms and tomato sauce. I slowly put in water (about half of the tomato sauce can) and then stir everything until everything's coated with the sauce. Seasonings of choice: salt, pepper, a dash of light soy sauce, a teaspoonful of sugar, another dash of lemon juice, and a generous heaping of Lee Kum Kee Chew Chow Chilli Oil because we like our pasta hot. And then I stir in my basil leaves (which smell marvelous, seriously) and let the entire thing simmer for about 10 more minutes while I deal with the tagliatelli.
Unfortunately, having never dealt with pasta more difficult that the San Remo ones, I'm sad to report that my first foray into more exotic pastas wasn't such a success. The tagliatelli stuck to each other like limpets, and even though I did the time-honoured tradition of testing pasta by picking out a sliver and chewing it slowly and carefully (no, I'm not throwing pasta on the fridge) it seemed that while they were cooked, plating them would be a disaster in the making.
Nevertheless, I soldiered on. I removed the pot from its electric home, strained the noodles (and in the case of the more recalcitrant ones, poked them with a fork until they released the bottom of the pot) and ran them under cold water for a few seconds. Then I distributed them among out plates, stirred in a small piece of butter to make them slippery, and then poured the sauce over them. Grated cheddar cheese went on top, and then I served the entire thing to my starving boy.
In fairness, it didn't turn out THAT bad, although next time, I'm sticking to my penne. And besides, there's nothing better to cap a week than to cuddle in bed with platefuls of pasta, watching Hritik Roshan stare piercingly into the camera and make his delicious way with Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom: 2. Of course, we weren't able to finish the movie. After dinner, something else got in the way. ;)
Last night, because it was the last night before Ramadan -- and therefore, fasting for at least one of us -- I decided to put together some spaghetti bolognese. Note that this is spaghetti and not the usual short and/or tubular pasta that I use around the house. Rather, I managed to score some tagliatelli nests at the grocery the other day and decided to use them for this particular recipe.
So I chop up some chilli sausages (because I'm Filipino like that, yo), quarter button mushrooms, and mince my garlic, roasted bell peppers (at SGD 5 a pop for a jar, it's a steal), and basil leaves (SGD 1 a packet, with enough leaves for about three dishes). Then I get the rice cooker pot and fill it up with water, salt, and oil, and dump my tagliatelli nests in them. Yes I know, you are aghast now. But seriously, rice cookers make very good pots as well, especially when boiling stuff like pasta or potatoes.
Then I get my pan, dump it on the electric hot pot, and turn the heat up. I get my trusty olive oil from the pantry and get everything nice and hot. Saute the garlic and bell peppers first, then dump in the sausage slices until they're just at that point when you can see the surface browning. Then my minced beef goes inside and I just let them all get to know each other because cooking, like life, is just like that.
Once my beef is browned, I stir in my quartered mushrooms and tomato sauce. I slowly put in water (about half of the tomato sauce can) and then stir everything until everything's coated with the sauce. Seasonings of choice: salt, pepper, a dash of light soy sauce, a teaspoonful of sugar, another dash of lemon juice, and a generous heaping of Lee Kum Kee Chew Chow Chilli Oil because we like our pasta hot. And then I stir in my basil leaves (which smell marvelous, seriously) and let the entire thing simmer for about 10 more minutes while I deal with the tagliatelli.
Unfortunately, having never dealt with pasta more difficult that the San Remo ones, I'm sad to report that my first foray into more exotic pastas wasn't such a success. The tagliatelli stuck to each other like limpets, and even though I did the time-honoured tradition of testing pasta by picking out a sliver and chewing it slowly and carefully (no, I'm not throwing pasta on the fridge) it seemed that while they were cooked, plating them would be a disaster in the making.
Nevertheless, I soldiered on. I removed the pot from its electric home, strained the noodles (and in the case of the more recalcitrant ones, poked them with a fork until they released the bottom of the pot) and ran them under cold water for a few seconds. Then I distributed them among out plates, stirred in a small piece of butter to make them slippery, and then poured the sauce over them. Grated cheddar cheese went on top, and then I served the entire thing to my starving boy.
In fairness, it didn't turn out THAT bad, although next time, I'm sticking to my penne. And besides, there's nothing better to cap a week than to cuddle in bed with platefuls of pasta, watching Hritik Roshan stare piercingly into the camera and make his delicious way with Aishwarya Rai in Dhoom: 2. Of course, we weren't able to finish the movie. After dinner, something else got in the way. ;)