IP one-pot meatball macaroni

This is a IP macaroni cooked in one pot with a decidedly Asian flavour. It is surprisingly easy and quick and very tasty and didn't even have aromatics!

Ingredients

250g beef mince

250g pork mince

2 tbsp corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp mustard powder

1 tbsp light soya sauce

1 tsp salt

Dash of pepper

1 tsp cardommon powder

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp coriander powder

4 tbsp mirin

4 tbsp cooking sake

1 bottle of passata

½ to 1 C water

250g pasta (macaroni or similar short tubular pasta)

2 cloves smashed garlic

½ onion, chopped

1 tsp ginger, minced

1 beef stock cube

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Mix the beef and pork minces together. Add the corn starch, beaten egg, cornstarch, curry powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper. 

2. Mix well. Knead the mince until it's sticky and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes.

3. In the IP, turn to high Saute heat mode. Add oil and heat up. 

4. Form meatballs (about ¼ C each) and roll into meatballs. In batches to avoid crowding and thus stewing rather than frying, pan fry the meatballs. Once meatballs are nicely browned on all sides, remove and start on the new batch. Really take time with this to develop the flavour. Remove from pot and set aside.

5. If using aromatics, lightly fry until fragrant. Add the sake and mirin and scrub the bottom to remove the brown bits. 

6. Add the meatballs back preferably in one layer and allow the alcohol to boil away.

7. Pour on the passata. Add about half a bottle of water and rinse out the bottle. 

8. Add the spices and beef stock cube and stir. 

9. Pour the pasta into the pot. If the liquid doesn't cover the meatballs and pasta, top up until just covered.

10. Close the lid and seal. Cook in 'chilli/bean' mode for 3 to 4 minutes (depending on pasta package instructions. E.g. take the cooking time divide by 2 minus 1).

11. Allow graduate release for 5 minutes. Taste and season if necessary. Serve immediately, with cheese if preferred.

Slow cooker best bolognese with sausages

I have cooked bolognese so many times over the years that it's hardly memorable. However, this particular time, something about the ingredients and proportions FINALLY made it right! The three secret magic ingredients are a full onion, anchovies in oil and curry powder, would you believe it!

Ingredients

2 to 3 tinned or bottled anchovies in oil

1 tbsp of the anchovy oil

1 large red union, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

500g beef mince

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp sage

2 tsp basil

1 tbsp curry powder

1 jar tomato passata

1 cup water

1 beef bullion cube (optional)

2 medium carrots, cubed

4 zuchinni, cubed

cooked 6 cumberland sausages, sliced

Salt and pepper to taste

500g cooked pasta

Method

1) In the anchovy oil (top up with regular oil if more oil is required), fry the onions until translucent. Add the garlic and fry for 20 seconds.

2) Add the beef mince and fry, chopping up the chunks with your spatula. When the meat has changed colour (but not necessarily cooked through), add all the herbs. Add the sausages.

3) Add the passata and fill up the jar halfway with water, then rinse the jar and tip out the contents into the pot. Add carrots.

4) Bring to a boil and skim off any scum that floats up. Add the curry powder and bullion cube and close the lid. Allow to slow cook for 1 to 2 hours.

5) Once ready, add the zucchini and stir through until cooked (approx 5 minutes).

6) Serve with pasta.

Bacon with spinach pesto pasta

Also known as pancetta con pasta al pesto di spinaci according to Google. Tired of red (tomato) and white (dairy) sauces, I decided to try green. Pesto is made of something green, a nut, olive oil, cheese and garlic. Traditionally made with basil, Parmesan, and pine nuts, I used a cheddar, pine nuts and spinach. Made a big batch which can be saved in a jar topped off with olive oil to preserve for up to a week in the fridge.

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 tbsp pine nuts

1 cup olive oil

2 cups blanched spinach, drained (i used frozen)

½ cup shredded cheddar or another hard cheese

250g pasta

1 tbsp minced garlic

6 slices bacon

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1) Starting in a cold oven, on a lined sheet, bake the bacon for 17 to 25 minutes at 200 deg C. Check after 15 minutes because it can burn pretty quickly.

http://www.centercutcook.com/how-to-bake-bacon/

2) Meanwhile, cook the pasta as per packet instructions and drain but save a cup of pasta cooking water.

3) Squeeze out as much water from the thawed spinach as possible. Drizzle in the olive oil till it because a gluggy consistency. 

4) In a food processor, process the nuts, cheese, spinach, and garlic. Use more or less oil depending. (If u desire, add the drained bacon oil) Season according to taste.

5) Assemble. In the pasta pan, add the sauce and add the pasta water till it all comes together and coats the pasta. Top with bacon. 

One pot prawn puttanesca

I have been wanting to try this revipe tor a long long time but never bought anchovies on account of its bad reputation. I can't speak for other recipes but it clearly works here.

Adapted from Nigella: https://www.nigella.com/recipes/sluts-spaghetti

Ingredients

8 anchovies (half a bottle) with half a bottle of oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

5 chopped tomatoes

1 tbsp dried chilli flakes

1 tbsp paprika

10 to 12 black olives

250g sphagettini

1 big glass of water

10 to 12 frozen prawns

Method

1) Chop the black olives and anchovies finely.

2) In a heated pan on a medium high heat, add the anchovies and olives and mush them up. 

3) Once the aroma hits you, add the garlic, chopped tomatoes, dried chilli flakes and paprika.

4) Break up the sphagettini and stir it in. It's nice if it gets a but scorched. Add the water and frozen prawns. Stir to incorporate. Cover and turn down the heat to let it simmer till the pasta is cooked al dente, about 5 minutes.

5) Towards the last 2 minutes, uncover and turn up the heat to evaporate the excess liquid to thicken the sauce.

6) Serve immediately.

Ravioli lasagne

Got the recipe off the Internet. Not difficult. Assemble 1 box of prepared ravioli, pour over half a pasata bottle, scatter on a layer of cheese, toss on some herbs. Repeat till ravioli is used up.

Bake at 200 deg C for ½ hr, then 10 minutes at 210 deg C for 10 minutes till top is golden. Serve but watch out for the bubbling scaldingly hot sauce!

Mac and cheese

Adapted from this recipe, I didn't really follow the recipe very closely but just the gist of it. I think my measurements are really and agar-ration but here goes. My contribution is hiding the vegetables inside.

Ingredients (serves 4 as a side dish)
1.5 cups cooked macaroni pasta (I don't know, about 1 cup dried pasta?)
5 sliced mushrooms
1 thinly sliced and quartered tomato
½ cup milk
4 tbsp panko
Salt and pepper to taste
Knob of butter
1 cup grated cheese

Method
1) Spray a casserole pot with oil and coat evenly. A see through casserole definitely helps, note pt 3.
2) Layer on half the pasta, and top with sliced vegs in a thin layer. Sprinkle on a thick coat of cheese, about half a cup.
3) Spread on remaining pasta. Pour in the milk slowly till it reaches ⅓ up the side. This way, it keeps the pasta moist without over flowing.
4) Cover with the remaining cheese and finally panko. Dot with butter.
5) Bake uncovered, at 200 (30 minutes) or 220 (20 minutes) deg c. I usually put it in with whatever else I'm baking, so temperature is variable.
6) At the end, it should be blipping away. If the top isn't brown enough, use the broiler function on the over, about 5 minutes on 230 deg c but watch like a hawk. It can burn all too easily.

Pasta Alfredo

I adapted my recipe from OnePotChefShow called easy pasta alfredo. Mine's probably not very authentic but since I didn't want to use cream, I had to improvise by using a white sauce and cheese to thicken.

Ingredients
2 l milk, at room temperature
50g butter
4 tbsp plain flour
1 cup grated cheese (use any type you like)
1 cup chopped parsley
250g proscutito, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
500g dry pasta (again, use whatever type you like)
Salt
Pepper

Method
1) Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Drain and set aside.
2) In a pot, fry the proscuitto in a little butter. Once the fat on the proscruitto has melted, fry the garlic for a few seconds until fragrant, then melt the rest of the butter. Add in the chopped stalks of the parsley.
3) Add the flour and stir quickly until well incorporated. Pour in about a cup of the milk and stir in quickly to ensure that there are no lumps. When the mixture has thickened, add in more milk, a cup at a time whenever the sauce thickens, until you have finished all the milk.
4) Add in the grated cheese. Stir till well combined and till all the cheese has melted.
5) Toss in most of the parsley, leaving a bit behind for garnishing.
6) Pour in the drained pasta and quickly stir through the sauce through till well incorporated.
7) Garnish with the reserved parsley and serve immediately.

Roast chicken with a tomato based pasta

Its been quite some time since I've had to cook, with the heat and all. Thankfully the weather has turned cooler so this is the most complicated (yes, it's kinda sad - this is considered complicated) dish that I've done in a long long time. Been inspired by all my pseudo cooking in Cafe World and I must say it has inspired me.

Ingredients
1 cup pasta (I used shells because they can retain the sauce better)

tomato sauce
1 tin canned stewed tomato - I have been told to use whole tomatoes and break them up, its tastier than pre-chopped ones
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp basil
1 tbsp parsley

roast chicken
10 chicken wings (mid portion, not drumlet)
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp worchester sauce
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tsp dill
1 tbsp thyme
1/2 tsp mixed spice

Method
1) Marinade the chicken, preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 220 deg C.
2) In a pot, lightly saute the garlic, be careful not to burn it. Pour in the tinned tomato, herbs and spices
3) Prepare the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
4) Roast the chicken at 220 deg C for 5 minutes, turning down to 200 deg C for another 13 to 15 minutes or until cooked.
5) Assemble by plating up the pasta, then pouring on the sauce and finally topping off with roast chicken. If there are any drippings from the roast chicken, you can pour it on top.

Double pleasures pasta

Inspired by a dish from the *the* HK Cafe (or was it Kim Gary?), I had the original but found it waaaaaaay too salty. Here is my rendition, made quite simply and quickly from leftovers and canned food! Not too salty! Talk about innovativeness eh? :P

Ingredients (feeds 2)
1 cup of cooked fusilli
1/2 cup standard white sauce
1/2 cup chicken curry (I use Amoy brand canned curry and 1 tiny tin makes about 1/2 a cup)
1/4 cup cheese, shaved

Method
1) Cook the cup of fusilli according to instructions. Drain and set aside.
2) In a casserole dish, pour the pasta into the bottom and pat down.
3) Pour the curry on one half, and the white sauce on the other half.
4) Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and ensure that the top is covered with cheese.
5) Bake at 200 deg C for 12 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nigella's Lamb and macaroni stew

Here's another one of Nigella's recipes, taken from the episode "Weekend". What I simply love about her receipes are that it's so simple and fool-proof, anyone can do it! Now if only I could work up the effort it takes to do so! (transposed to the best of my memory) Nigella added that with any stew, it's just something thrown together rather rustically, so no need to over-fret over the proportions and amounts, just something reasonable would do!

Ingredients (feeds 6 to 8)
Lamb shoulder, cubed (enough to feed 6 to 8, heck if I know how much!)
2 to 3 stalks celery, chopped
1 carrot, roughly chopped
3 tins canned tomatoes
Oregano
A few bay leaves
Roughly 1 cup water
1 large onion, peeled
2 to 3 cloves fat garlic, crushed and paper removed
Salt and pepper for seasoning according to taste
Oil for browning

Method
1) Brown the cubes of lamb. Remove onto another dish.
2) In a processor, blitz together the celery, garlic and onions. Pour into the pan with the left over oil from browning the lamb. Let soften for about a min (but don't brown).
3) Remove half of the mixture. Flatten out the remaining mixture into the plan.
4) Pour back the lamb. Pour back the onions on top and cover the lamp. (Nigella does because she says that she finds that the mixture helps to seal in the moisture of the lamb)
5) Pour in the 2 cans of tomatoes, and 1 cup of water.
6) Sprinkle over the oregano and bay leaves.
7) Cover and simmer on low heat for 2 hours. Alternatively, transfer to a low oven for 2 hours.
8) It will be a bit watery, but this is used to cook the macaroni. When the stew is ready, pour in the macaroni to cook. Season with salt and pepper.
9) Serve when macaroni is cooked.
10) Nigella also uses feta, roughly mixed by hand together with chopped fresh oregano and serves this on top of the stew.

No oil arrabiata

Traditional arrabiata in my mind always comes about too oily and too fiery. I'm really not a fan of oily stuff, and it's always hard to get the proportions of oil right.

However, last week, I came across a particularly tomoto-ey version by CBTL, with a nice tomato-based sauce and served with nice chorizo sausages for that smokey taste - hey why not!

Here's my recreation, made slightly sweeter cos B doesn't like sour stuff (ie he hates tomatoes) and also less spicy for me. I added barley because I usually find my sauces too thin - the barley gave the sauce a good 'saucy' consistency, and the barley texture gave it a nice mealy texture. The bonus was that in the tomato base, the texture and feel made it taste like baked beans! Keep it overnight and see how the sausages and barley bloats up!
Ingredients (Serves 3)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 can water
1 packet (about 10) chicken franks sausages (or chorizos if you have them), cut into chunks
3 tbls chopped garlic
3 tbls chilli flakes (more if you dare!)
1 tbls chopped onions
2 tbls barley
3 tbls ketchup
1 tsp granulated chicken stock (I use the squeezy packets so it's simplier)
4 tsp sugar
Grated black pepper
Oregano or Basil
2 tbls Olive oil
Pasta for 3
Grated parmesan

Method
1. Saute onions and olive oil. Add garlic but do not brown the garlic.
2. Saute the chicken franks.
3. Add the chilli flakes and stir fry briefly.
4. Pour in the canned tomatoes. Stir. Using the same can, fill up with water and pour into the pot.
5. Add the barley.
6. Season with oregano or basil, black pepper, tomato sauce and chicken stock.
7. Leave to simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and add salt if necessary. Usually the chicken franks add enough salt to the sauce for me.
8. Cook pasta as per instructions on the packet.
9. Serve with grated parmesan.