Sunday, March 17, 2013

Ode to No. 169 - Penne Baked in Tomato cheese sauce

You all must be wondering what is this 169...well its the dish number of one of our favourite pasta "Penne baked with Mozzarella cheese" in our most favourite cafe in Delhi - The Big Chill . We have such great memories of that place...all special occasions and even not so special ones were spent there. Basically we would go there all weekends..even on weeknights. What an amazing spread they have..just love that place man!! Even now our visits to the capital is NEVER done without a visit to Big Chill. Be it their grilled dishes...pizzas ...the desserts...home made ice creams *sigh* I can only feel super J about people staying in Delhi. Here I have not attempted to recreate my favourite dish as its an impossible task but just something similar to comfort my craving taste buds!



The only cooking part here is making the tomato cheese sauce..rest is just a breeze through.

Ingredients :

Penne pasta - 1 cup ( boiled and drained)

Mushrooms - 1/2 cup chopped

Sweet corn kernels - 1/2 cup

Butter - for sauteing the mushroom and corn

For the Sauce :

Tomatoes - 6 large ( roughly chopped) Pls choose the ripe red ones

Garlic - 1 tbsp chopped

Onion - 1 medium chopped

Fresh cream - 1/2 cup

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Mixed herbs ( oregano, thyme , basil) - 2 tbsp ( i used the dried variety easily available in the supermarkets)

Chilli flakes - 1 tbsp

Grated cheddar cheese - 1/2 cup

Crushed pepper - 2 tsp

Salt - to taste

Sugar - a pinch

Method:

First start with making the sauce. You could also make it a night before..tastes just as yum.

In a non stick pan, heat the olive oil. Add the chopped onions and garlic and saute till the onions get a translucent color.

Next tip in all chopped tomatoes , mixed herbs, salt, pepper and sugar. Mix well, cover and let it simmer for 15- 20 mins.

Let the tomatoes get all mushy, remove from heat and let it cool.

Once the mixture cools down, grind it into a smooth sauce.

Put the  sauce back into the pan , let it simmer for 2 mins. Turn off the heat and mix in the grated cheese and cream.




Your sauce is ready..now its just putting everything together.

In another pan saute the mushroom and corn in a little bit of butter.




Next put in the boiled pasta, sauteed mushrooms and corn in a baking dish and pour the tomato cheese sauce over it.




Mix everything together, Check for seasoning...you could add some more herbs or chilli flakes as per your taste.



Bake in a preheated oven for 15 mins at 180 deg C.

Get ready and dig into some sinfully yummy pasta. *Heaven*

[Note] Now here's something you can do which I didn't  today but normally do is sprinkle some grated Parmesan or mozzarella on top  and then bake it.






1 comment:

  1. Looks great Mimi didi... Will surely try this out in the weekends and let u know

    ReplyDelete