Soulful Creations

No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention- Christopher Morley     This month's Vegetarian Times had some truly interesting and simple pasta recipes and this, is the adapted version of one such recipe.No stories, just a simple recipe with VT version in red Ingredients 8oz spaghetti (I used whole wheat, fettucine ) 3/4 cup whipped cream cheese ( 1/2 cup ) 2 tbsp olive oil plus extra for the pasta juice and zest from one lemon chopped parsley 1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar ( omitted ) salt for the sauce pepper to taste (I added quite a bit) Method Cook the spaghetti according to instructions with olive oil and salt In a pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil, cream cheese and about one tbsp of lemon juice- once the cheese is in a saucy consistency, switch the heat off. Add the pasta (I did add a bit of pasta water), rest of the lemon juice, lemon zest, parsley and cheddar. Serve hot Judgement A beautiful light pasta meal you will enjoy all through the year. Now...

Yes, that is correct. The first time I saw this recipe here , I had mocked it and mocked it despite the fact that I love Sanjeev Kapoor's recipes. They are usually unbelievably simple and the outcome usually delicious. I should also confess that I did bookmark the page for one of those days that I would feel adventurous enough. So here is a very Indian-Thai tasting pasta recipe that was made by the wise guy- rest assured he/we did not follow the recipe to the T.   Ingredients 1 box dried rotini pasta  1 bag of frozen veggie mix that had broccoli, cauliflower and carrots 1 onion, sliced 2 tomatoes, chopped 1 tbsp garlic paste 1 tbsp ginger paste red chilli powder, to taste 2 green chilli, chopped 1 tbsp Garam masala (the wise guy used something called mutter paneer masala from parampara) 1 cup half and half salt, to taste 1 tbsp oil for frying Method Boil the pasta as per package instructions with salt and may be some olive oil. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan. ...

Every time I have an aha moment about something ingenious that I concoct, I just have to type a few keywords from my concoction and behold...someone has already done it. This recipe today is also borne out of one of those humbling times- agreed I am not the most inventive cook but hey I cannot help it if other people think like I do, only they had done it ages ago! Here is a recipe for an really wonderful pesto with green peas and tuvar lilva (green pigeon peas), adapted from here Ingredients 2 cups frozen peas 1 cup frozen green pigeon peas (tuvar lilva, the skin is still on and that adds taste to the pesto) 2 cloves garlic 3-4 tbsp grated sharp white cheddar a handful of pine nuts, toasted 1 cup basil (roughly chopped) salt and pepper to taste 3 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp chilli-garlic paste. Method Process everything in a blender- I did not stream the olive oil in so the pesto was not all that emulsified. That is all- serve it on your favorite pasta or sandwich- I se...

  The last time I had my share of pasta- well I cannot remember, oops- how could I betray my pasta? Put on your gear, turn on your favorite music- lets make some pasta!  Ingredients 1/2 package whole wheat spaghetti, cooked per instructions For the brown butter sauce  3/4 stick unsalted butter Any kind of dried herbs you might like For the veggies 1 red and green pepper, julienne 1/2 onion, slice thinly Method For the sauce Melt butter in a pan on medium heat. Bring butter to a boil and it should take about 5-7 minutes after that. You can read more about it here but mine did not have cream in it. For the veggies I used the same pan that I used to make the brown butter sauce, I just threw in the onions with some salt, let it caramelize (did not add an extra sugar) and then added the peppers, cooked them for about 3-4 minutes. Transferred the veggies to a sheet pan and broiled it until the veggies charred a little. Assembling the pasta Add about 2-3 tbsp of the b...

Yesterday, I came across this recipe here and decided to make it since simple is all I wanted yesterday. I have made an Asian style pasta before but the sauce I made for that was different than this. This pasta was super easy to make, I doubled all the amounts so that both of us could pack it for lunch. I followed most of the recipe except a few things a. I added store-bought chilli garlic sauce (quite a few dashes, since I was craving spicy food) b. I omitted the broccoli and added sugar snap peas (what better than a handful to these beauties!) c. I added so y sauce instead of teriyaki sauce and omitted the sugar called for in the original recipe. d. I added nearly a third of a cup of lime juice and even topped it with more lime juice before serving. e. I also added nearly 2 tbsp of chopped ginger. I am sending this to Presto pasta nights hosted by Hillary of Chew on that blog Judgement day: While the flavor was great, the pasta was a bit dry. I think I would add more of the broth...

What happens when your pantry is low on everything, INNOVATION!!!! That is exactly what happened- with my dad's encouragement, I tried my own pasta recipe for the first time ever. It all started when I thought I had some of the usual pasta like farfelle or rigate and therefore picked up a recipe with lentils and stuff. Well, I did not have any of those, but at least had spaghetti. The other ingredients on hand were red pepper, onions, crushed tomatoes, left over pasta sauce (I could not use all of it because my mom did not like the super-garlic taste in that sauce, it is store-bought you see!) and flat-leaf parsley. The only thing consoling about this whole thing was the fact that it was going to be a healthy mixture and probably an ideal candidate for Monthly mingle # 29. But I decided to make it more healthy by adding some split green lentils. Well this experiment reminds me of the Lynne's "Splendid Table" (she actually tries to come up edible recipes from the ingre...

So the first time I saw this recipe, I knew I wanted to try it. This recipe is modified from the original one found in "Betty Crocker's- easy everyday vegetarian". Spaghetti and spicy rice balls 1 pkg (16oz) whole wheat spaghetti 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats 1 bunch spring onion, roughly chopped 1/4 cup unseasoned bread crumbs 1/4 cup milk 1 tbsp fresh parsley 1 tbsp dried oregano (fresh would be great) 1/2 tsp red chilli powder 1 egg, beaten 1/2 cup wheat germ vegetable oil salt and pepper to taste store bought tomato pasta sauce (I used the entire bottle!) 1. Cook, drain spaghetti 2. In a medium bowl, mix rice, oats, bread crumbs, spring onion, milk, herbs, chilli powder and egg. Add salt and pepper to taste (When I cooked the rice, I added salt and pepper). Shape the mixture; coat the rice balls with wheat germ 3. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Cook rice balls in it, until light golden brown. 4. Heat pasta sauce...