Linguini in pesto with srimp

There is something about Italian cuisine that makes seemingly simple dishes taste better than an elaborate dish that would have taken hours to put together. The simple and fresh ingredients blended with amazing herbs and the best cheeses to give a flavor that's hard to not like. I've seen the purists of spicy food lap up Italian fare like second nature.

While in Milan I saw that Italians are fiercely proud of their cuisine, it was impossible to find any other cuisine in the central dumo da piazza area other than italian. The soft raviolis, creamy risottos, delectable pastas and of course authentic pizzas.

At home every once we find ourselves craving for the simplicity of italian fare and thanks to the availability of  fresh ingredients its no longer laborious to attempt a new flavor once in a while.

Pesto is one of the relatively lesser common pasta sauce with marinara, arrabiata and alfredo being well known. Its deceptively simple to make given the flavor it has. Linguini is a lesser known cousin of spaghetti with only exception being square edges as opposed to round. This dish is best served with parmesan cheese although any other sharp hard cheese should work well too.


Home made pesto-
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1 table spoons pine nuts
1/2 cup olive oil



200 gm linguini
200 gm shrimp/big prawns

4 table spoons parmesan cheese
Freshly crushed pepper
Salt
Oregano
Red chilli flakes

1. Boil linguini as per the package instructions. As soon as its done drain and wash with clod water and set aside in a colander

2. Blend all ingredients under 'home made pesto' and set aside

3. Heat a small pan to high temperature, drizzle a few drops of olive oil. Saute the prawns, on both sides till they tun pink. If they let out water, drain it and continue cooking the prawns.

3. In a big flat pan, add about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add the pesto followed by the linguini, also add any of the shrimp water.

4. Toss is well with a pair of pasta tongs  or two spoons. Add salt, oregano.redchilli flakes

5. Add the prawns and toss till mixed well in the seasoning

6. Move to serving plate, add crushed black pepper and grate some parmesan

7. Have it with a side of bread


Note : Italian ingredients were sourced from Godrej Nature's Basket in Bangalore

Chargrilled Broccoli with Chilli and Garlic

Posting on this blog after ages, but I've decided to restart food blogging after I realized how much I enjoy it. It takes some effort to document , picture and then actually post your cooking but I guess its worth doing coz a) it gives me a chance to indulge in cooking which I love b) lets me experiment with another one of my hobby - photography.

With out further ado my newest fav dish - Chargrilled Broccoli with Chilli and Garlic
I got the recipe from gourmet traveller which in turn if from adapted from the Ottolenghi cookbook.
Ingredients
1 medium broccoli
olive oil
7-8 small garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 green chillies red chillies/jalepenos, thinly sliced
coarse sea salt
black pepper

Separate the brocolli into florets and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes – don’t be tempted to cook longer! Remove immediately to a bowl of ice water, then drain and leave to dry completely.

To chargrill the broccolli I used a thick bottom anodized pan, Take olive oil in the pan and let it warm for a minute , toss in the dried broccolli into it and let it grill. Do not cover the dish as it will not be crunchy.

If required do this in batches so that it does not become soggy. It took me about 5 mins per batch to char grill this to medium.

While the broccoli is cooking, place some more oil in a small saucepan together with the garlic and chillies and cook on a medium heat until the garlic begins to turn golden brown. Be careful not to let the garlic and chilli burn – they will continue cooking in the hot oil even when off heat.

Pour the garlic and chilli oil over the hot broccoli and toss well. Season to taste and serve immediately or at room temperature

I served it with a tasty readymade tzatziki sauce.