Zucchini Pasta with Green Sauce

I find that Zucchini tends to feel soggy if you don't have them freshly-grilled, but as a replacement for pasta, it tasted delicious. Word of caution, use this as a side dish or salad because you will feel hungry soon after eating only this.


For the pasta, you'll need
1 large zucchini
1 red onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oil
Pinch of chilli flakes
Seasoning
*You can also have it raw in which case you only need to season it

If you have a peeler that lets you peel the vegetable in strips then great, or use a regular peeler to get ribbons. You can use the ribbons as it is or manually cut them into thin strips to resemble pasta. I prefer to use the skin of the zucchini as well. It's healthy so don't throw it away. Peel it till the seedy core. If you want to use the core, then chop it up and add it to the mix.

In a pan, heat the oil, add the onion, garlic, and chilli flakes and cook till onions start to brown. Next, add the zucchini and season it. You don't need to cook it much - just a minute to get some flavour into it.

For the Green Sauce:
1/2 cup blanched and pureed spinach leaves
1 avocado, mashed
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Seasoning
Tortilla chips for crunch (optional)
*you could also add some pesto and/or cheese

Keep the spinach and avocado at room temperature and mix them together with the seasoning. Then add it to the pasta.

It is advisable not to heat the avocado but you could heat up the spinach with the pasta above then mix in the avocado after you take it off the heat. Or you could have it as a salad with all items at room temperature.

Add the cheese if using, and crush some chips on top before serving.

This serves 2 as a salad, and just 1 as a light meal.

Pesto

Sweet basil pesto has a charm of its own, but there are other leaves that will give you awesome tasting pesto as well.

I had an abundance of lettuce that was close to wilting and was in no mood to have that much salad, so I converted the batch into pesto - pretty much the same deal as with the basil version, except that I had a few more ingredients lying around I wanted to finish.

Grind together:
2 large heads of lettuce leaves (I had iceberg lettuce)
1/2 cup basil
1/2 cup mint
1/2 cup cashew nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan or other hard cheese (optional)

Since this recipe already has a lot of greens, I don't need to add any more to the pasta. If needed, cook the pasta, drain, and stir fry with some garlic, onions and chilli flakes. The sauce is creamy enough without adding cheese, but you can add cheese on top.

You could also make this out arugula/rocket leaves. I used 1 bunch of chopped leaves to make 1/2 cup of pesto. It could also be used as a sandwich spread.


You can also mix sweet basil to either of the pestos to add flavour. Or just use a cup of basil on its own for a classic.

Spinach and Tofu Cannelloni with a toasty top

Tofu is a much healthier alternative to a cheese filling, and it tastes as good.

For the rolls:
Cannelloni rolls - 4-5 (or lasagna sheets)
Spinach - 1 bunch
Tofu - 250 gms
Salt to taste

For the White Sauce:
Milk - 1 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Flour - 2 tbsp
Seasoning

For the topping:
Sliced tomatoes - 2
Breadcrumbs - 2 tbsp
Grated cheese - 50 gms
Ground pepper - 1 tbsp
Oregano - 1tbsp
Chilli flakes - 1 tbsp

Par-boil the spinach, drain the water, and chop it up. Mash the tofu and mix with the spinach. Add salt. Stuff this mixture in the cannelloni rolls. Most brands don't require the rolls to be par-boiled. Check cooking instructions on the packet.

If using lasagna sheets, par boil the sheets, line the stuffing in the center of each sheet, then just roll it up. Set aside.

For the white sauce, heat the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Make it into a paste, then add the milk. Before it boils, turn the heat down and let it simmer. Mix well to remove any lumps. Add some more flour if the sauce is too runny. Once the sauce starts to thicken, add some seasoning and keep aside.

Heat oven to 180 dec C. In a baking dish, line the cannelloni rolls. Pour the white sauce evenly over the top of the spread. Layer it with the cheese. Then place the sliced tomatoes over the top to cover the tray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and the rest of the seasoning. Bake for about 30-40 minutes. the breadcrumbs will give a nice toasty top with crunchy tomatoes without having to use much cheese.

Pasta with Fennel & Orange Zest

I've never made anything with fennel before so when I got some, pasta was the simplest thing that came to mind to experiment with.

For the White Sauce:
2-3 tbsps butter
2-3 tbsps flour
500 ml milk
Seasoning

In a saucepan, melt the butter, and add the flour. once blended, add the milk and keep the heat to a medium. Stir so that the lumps dissolve. Let the milk heat but not boil. Keep on low-medium heat till it thickens.
Add more flour if needed. Once done, add seasoning and keep aside.

Veggies:
2 bulbs of fennel
2 cloves Garlic
1 small onion
2 tbsp oil
Zest of 1 orange
seasoning

Separate the stem from the leaves of the fennel. Pry apart each layer of the fennel and clean thoroughly. Slice the fennel stem. Heat the oil and add the garlic. Then add the onion and fennel stems. Cook till they're soft. Then add the zest and seasoning. Lastly, add the chopped fennel leaves.

Remove from heat and mix with the white sauce. Pour this over a bed of pasta and serve!

Pasta with Pesto Sauce and Grilled Veggies

I finally found a place that gives a good bunch of sweet basil leaves for a reasonable price to make pesto at home. Once that was taken care of, rest was easy.

For the grilled veggies:
2 tomatoes sliced 
1/2 of a large aubergine, sliced
Olive oil
Sea Salt (or regular would do as well) to taste

Line them up in a baking tray (separately) and drizzle some olive oil on top. Sprinkle some salt. Don't over-season as your final dish will also have salt. Put this in an oven and bake for about 40 minutes at 200 deg C. They'll come out nice and toasted.

For the pesto sauce:
1 large cup of basil leaves
1/2 cup cashew nuts
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (or any other hard cheese like Gouda or Cheddar)
4-5 tbsp Olive oil
Seasoning

Add all the ingredients in a blender and mix till it is a semi-smooth paste. Add/subtract oil as per consistency.

TIP: Add an ice cube when blending to retain a fresh green colour.

To make the pasta:
2 cups cooked pasta of your choice
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil to cook
2 tbsp olive oil to serve
1 onion, chopped

Heat oil in a pan on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds, then add the onion. Stir till onions are golden brown. Then add the pasta and pesto sauce. Coat the pasta in the sauce evenly. Add the the grilled tomatoes and aubergines. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

For the cheese-crazy, serve with some grated cheese.

Spinach and Zucchini Pasta

I rarely ever order pasta at a restaurant because I like my dish full of fresh vegetables and some sauce - not just sauce or cream poured over plain pasta. This spinach sauce is simple, quick, and yum!

Boil pasta as per instructions, drain, and keep aside.

For the sauce:
1 bunch of spinach leaves blanched and pureed
1 zucchini, finely sliced
1 small onion, diced
5-6 pieces of chopped Mushroom or Asparagus
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 pieces sun-dried tomatoes
5-6 olives thinly sliced
Zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp chilli flakes
1/2 cup cheese cheese (I use Cheddar)
3 tbsps milk
Salt/pepper to taste

Heat oil in a pan on medium to high heat and put in the garlic, then the onion after 30 seconds. Don't let it brown. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and stir for another 30 seconds.

Throw in the zucchini, and the mushroom or asparagus and salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium and mix well till cooked. You may want to turn up the heat so that the excess water dries up. Then add the spinach puree and coat the vegetables all over. Once cooked, stir in the cheese. After that add the milk and while it heats up add the lemon zest. Before you take it off the heat, add the olives and chilli flakes. Pour over the pasta and serve hot.