One Pot Ham and Peas Fusilli Pasta

Kolkata Food Bloggers encourages new and interactive events where its members can showcase versatility and passion. Our new ongoing event is featuring one member for a week where the chosen one gets to decide on a theme of their choice. For this week, our featured blogger is Chitrangada Kundu who blogs from Color and Spices, a blog with wonderful recipes and amazing breath-taking food photography. 

Recently, KFB held a demo workshop where Chitrangada tried explaining us a thing or two about Food photography. I was lucky to get an opportunity to attend the same and was enthralled at her knowledge and passion. With the limited time, she tried to pack in as much information as possible and shared lots of her hard-learned tips. 

For this week, our event showcases One Pot meal wonders. I have been elusive of this fuss free way of cooking and decided to try an easy pasta recipe. This is literally a dump in kind of a recipe where everything is just put in the pan and then allowed to cook. Simple and easy as a breeze, it is a quick way to beat some sudden hunger pangs.

Ingredients : Serves 2

• 1/2 cup Fusilli Pasta
• 1/4 cup chicken ham, cubed
• handful of green peas
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium sized onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp of mixed dried herbs
• 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup milk
• parmesan cheese for sprinkling

Procedure : 

Heat oil in a pan and saute onions till translucent. Add chopped garlic and ham cubes. Stir for a minute.

Add flour and the fusilli pasta and mix.

Stir in water and milk. 

Add salt and pepper.

Cook for 10-15 minutes and then stir in the peas.

Cook for another 5 minutes or till the pasta is done. 

Sprinkle parmesan cheese and dried herbs on top and serve. 

This recipe is part of Kolkata Food Bloggers ongoing event One Pot meals which features our blogger Chitrangada Kundu who blogs from Color and Spices

Happy Enjoying a fuss free One Pot meal

Amrita

Cheesy twists

I have been writing about my missing act for a long time now. And the truth is that I am still struggling to find enough enthusiasm to get back to what I love doing. With Vaanya growing up, I guess my energy level is getting depleted faster. But that does not equal to no experiments in the kitchen. My love for baking continues and I keep finding personal little time to experiment with some bake or the other.
The cheesy twists were made some time in November when the winters was just setting its foot in Kolkata. The warm gooey cheesy bread was a perfect accompaniment to the light nip in the air and a steaming cup of tea. I made a homemade pizza sauce as a dip to go with it where I just did a gentle saute of garlic, chopped onions and tomatoes with seasoning and it paired really well with my cheesy delights. 
With most of the ingredients easily available in the kitchen, this recipe can work as an interesting and an innovative appetizer.  

Recipe : King Arthur Flour

Ingredients : Yields 10 twists

Dough : 

• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp lukewarm water
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp instant yeast
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup all purpose flour

Filling : 

• 2 tbsp grated processed cheese/cheese powder
• 1/2 tsp dried herbs
• 1/2 tbsp melted butter
• 1/2 tbsp water
• 1/4 cup grated mozarella cheese
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Procedure : 

Dough : 

Take a bowl and add all ingredients. Knead to a smooth dough adding as much lukewarm water required. 

Transfer the dough to a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp muslin cloth. Keep in a warm place and allow to rise for an hour till it doubles in volume. 

Filling : 

In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients except mozarella cheese and olive oil and set aside. 

Roll the dough to a rough 10x10"

Spread the filling mixture all over the dough leaving a 1/2 " border on all sides.

Sprinkle mozarella cheese all over. 

Fold dough in half and press the edges.

Using a pizza cutter/knife slice dough into 1" wide fingers.

Twist strips and lay them on a parchment/aluminium foil lined baking tray.

I did not use a parchment paper on the baking tray and ended up with a cheesy mess on the tray

Brush them with olive oil and allow to rise for an hour.

Preheat oven to 180 degree Celsius 10 minutes before the rising time gets over.

Bake the twists for 20-25 minutes or till they have browned well. 

Serve with tomato ketchup or homemade Pizza sauce.

Happy cheesy twisting
Amrita