Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italian. Show all posts

21 Oct 2016

EGGLESS SPINACH PANEER QUICHE

Hello everyone

Here I am posting after a long time but came with a very interesting and delicious recipe. Quiche , it's basically a type of pie with a savory filling and topped with egg mixture. But mine recipe is eggless one and also without butter. Generally its crust calls for lots of butter but as a health conscious fellow I always try to cut down any extra calories in my diet, as much I can. So here is mine version of eggless quiche recipe. Nice creamy filling in a crispy crunchy crust is a real delight for quiche lovers. Hope you all will definitely love this healthier and delicious version.

Step wise recipe is given below.

EGGLESS SPINACH PANEER QUICHE



Time: 1 hr ( leaving the resting time)
Serves: 8

Ingredients

For crust:
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour/ chapatti flour
1 1/2 tbsp semolina
2 tbsp oil
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3-4 tbsp yogurt , as required
For filling:
1 cup spinach, finely chopped
2 big onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 cup crumbled cottage cheese ( paneer)
1/4-1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp Black pepper
Salt to taste

For egg substitute

1 cup milk
1/2 cup soft cottage cheese ( paneer)
1 heaped tbsp corn flour
1-2 pinch salt

Method:

First of all prepare dough for crust.
Mix all ingredients given under for crust section , except yogurt. After mixing hold the flour mixture in your palm and close tightly. If after opening , the flour hold it's shape then proceed with next step otherwise add some more oil and mix well to get required texture.


Now add required yogurt, 1 tbsp at a time and gather the dough together. No need to knead the dough. It should be firm and just gathered together to form a ball. 


** Never add too much yogurt otherwise your crust will not come out crisp.

Now give it a disc shape and wrap in a cling film/ aluminum foil. Keep it in freezer for 30 mins or in fridge for 2hrs.

Now take it out and roll into a thick big chapatti ( slightly bigger than the size of your baking pan) on a floured surface.


** The chapatti may break while rolling due to hard dough but don't worry , keep on collecting the broken edges and roll.

While rolling keep on lifting and moving your rolled chapatti to avoid sticking to base.
Now carefully transfer it to the pie pan. Press it lightly to give the shape of pan and pierce with fork to avoid puffing while baking.
Now blind bake the prepared crust in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 12-15 mins or till its edges start to browning.


Keep it out of the oven and brush with butter or ghee. Let it cool.
Meanwhile prepare our filling.

Heat some oil in a wok, add chopped garlic and saute for a min. Now add chopped onions and saute till transparent. Add spinach and saute till it shrinks. 



Now add crumbled cheese, followed by chilli flakes, black pepper powder and salt to taste. Saute for 2 more mins and is done. Let it cool.


Meanwhile prepare our egg replacement mixture.

Take all ingredients given under egg replacement , in a blender jar and blend to a nice smooth creamy mixture. Keep aside till needed.



When our crust and filling is cooled down. Put filling in crust and spread evenly. Finally pour the prepared egg replacement mixture all over it.


Now bake it in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 40- 45 mins or till you see nice golden colour on its top.



** Never put hot filling or on a hot crust, let both come to room temperature before assembling the final dish. Otherwise the crust may become soggy and ruin the texture of whole dish.

After baking let it come to room temperature then slice and serve with any sauce of your choice.


It is not only delicious but filling too. A single slice can replace your full meal. So bake it and enjoy in your lunch /  dinner or give it in your kids tiffin.



It's really yummilicious treat for quiche lovers in a healthy way.


Hope you all will love this healthy cum yummy treat and will give it a try soon.
Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....

2 Apr 2016

EGGLESS RAVIOLI

Hello everyone

After lots of pasta recipes from Italian cuisine, today I have one more recipe from there. Ravioli is one of the traditional dish from Italian cuisine. It's a dumpling with different types of fillings generally cheese, veggies, meat etc and served with various sauces or broth. I am making it without eggs and with little Desi touch to its filling and served with two types of sauce, one is garlic mint tomato sauce and another is dal ( lentil) with nice garlic and mint flavor. It tastes awesome in both combos, you can choose any as per your preference. I made this dal combo for my kids to provide them more protein with yumminess . Filling is also full of protein and other nutrients as it has paneer and veggies, completely vegetarian friendly recipe with lots of flavor. You can relate this dish with north eastern Indian dish faara, it's more or less alike in preparation. So let's start with the recipe, hope you all will like this little twisted and eggless recipe of ravioli and don't forget to share your experience with me.
Stepwise recipe is given below.

EGGLESS RAVIOLI


Serves: 4-5
Time: 1 hr

Ingredients 


For dough:

1 1/2 cup chapatti flour/ all purpose flour
3/4 cup semolina
1/4 tsp salt
2-3 tsp oil 
Water to knead


For filling:

1 cup cottage cheese( paneer), crumbled 
3-4 medium potatoes, boiled and mashed
1 medium carrot, boiled and mashed or grated
1 cup cabbage, finely chopped 
2 onion, finely chopped 
1/2 tsp black pepper powder ( or as per taste)
1/4 tsp chili flakes
Salt to taste


Garlic mint tomato sauce:

3-4 medium size, nice red tomatoes, chopped 
3-4 cloves garlic
1-2 green chilies 
Handful mint leaves
1/4 tsp black pepper powder 
1/8 tsp oregano
Salt to taste

Method:

First of all mix all ingredients of dough except water. Now using water knead a semi stiff dough and cover it . Let it rest for 1/2 -1 hr.


Meanwhile prepare filling, heat some oil in a wok and add chopped onions. Let it fry till golden, add chopped cabbage and fry for 4-5 mins or till it shrinks. Now add mashed potatoes and carrot. If using grated carrots then add along with cabbage. Now fry for 3-4 mins and add crumbled paneer, black pepper powder, chili flakes and salt. 


Fry for 1-2 mins and your filling is ready. 


Let it cool a little and then keep it in fridge for 15-20 mins.

Meanwhile prepare sauce for ravioli. Take chopped tomatoes, mint, garlic and chili in a grinder and make fine paste of it. Now heat little oil in a wok and transfer the prepared paste in it. Let it cook till you get nice sauce consistency of your choice. Now add salt, oregano and black pepper powder.


 Mix well and transfer to a bowl. Your nice tangy spicy sauce is ready to go with ravioli. 


This sauce can also be used as pasta sauce and for pizza too.

Now come to ravioli preparation. Take sufficient water with some salt , in a big vessel and put it on flame for boiling. Now take a lemon size ball of dough and roll it to a thin oblong chapati on a floured surface. Now divide it in two , length wise. Put 1 tsp of filling on one strip at some distance, as many you can put on one strip. Now cover it with other strip, press sides of each filling to get nice sealed pockets. There should no air trapped inside filling and dough. Now using dough cutter , cut desired shaped ravioli and remove extra dough from it. All the procedure is explained in pics. 


You can also prepare individual ravioli if facing problems in making many at a time. 


                                               Or



                                              Or






Now put these prepared ravioli in boiling water and let them cook for 8-10 minutes. They will start floating on the surface, once done.


 Now drain it on a plate. Similarly prepare all ravioli.


 Now arrange ravioli in serving dish and pour some sauce or broth on it. 


Serve hot or cold , it tastes best in both ways.


* If you don't have dough cutter then can use cookie cutter or simple glass for cutting ravioli. 

* But don't forget to press the dough nicely to seal the edges of ravioli otherwise it may open in boiling water .

* try to seal your ravioli so that there is no air trapped in between, otherwise you will not get pretty shaped end result.

* you can prepare filling of your choice.


Your delicious treat is ready to be relished. You can have it  in lunch/ dinner/ breakfast any time you wish. 


Even kids will also love to dig in this Italian platter. So prepare it and enjoy with your family and pals.


Tried to short out all the confusions that may occur but if you have any then please mention in comment box, will try to clarify at my best as soon as possible. Your comments and suggestions are precious, they meant a lot.

Happy cooking....




11 Oct 2015

NO OIL , NO CREAM PASTA IN HEALTHY WHITE CREAMY SAUCE

Hello everyone 
Pasta... I think most of us including kids and elders, love to have pasta ,But at the same time try to avoid it some time due to sauce and creams used to make it delicious. My kids love to have these in their tiffin too,So I thought why not to give it a healthy twist that make people comfortable to have it without any guilt. I just added puréed onions, paneer and oats to the regular pasta and it turned out super delicious, guilt free healthy breakfast for us. 
Recipe of the same is given below, just give it a try.

NO OIL, NO CREAM PASTA IN HEALTHY WHITE CREAMY SAUCE






Ingredients 

2 cup pasta , boiled and drained
1/4 cup oats
2 big onion, sliced
3-4 garlic cloves( optional)
2 green chillies,slit
1/4 cup paneer ( cottage cheese)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp white /black pepper powder 
1/2 tsp garlic powder ( optional)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
8-10 almonds ( optional)
1/2 cup water
Salt to taste

Method:

First of all boil sliced onions, garlic cloves, green chilies , almonds and oats in 1/2 cup water, add more if needed. Let it cool and grind to a smooth creamy paste along with paneer. 



Now transfer paste to the same wok , add milk and let it boil.  Then add white /black pepper powder, garlic powder , oregano and salt.



 Now add boiled pasta, mix well . let it cook till every thing get nicely coated with saucy consistency. If needed add some water drained from pasta to make sauce of right consistency. 



You can also add some butter for taste while adding sauce to wok. 
And your guilt free yummy pasta is ready to be served.



You can use any pasta of your choice, I added corni pasta.
You can also garnish it as you like , I sprinkled chilli flakes and dried oregano.



This pasta can be served as breakfast or can be a good option for lunch box too. You can have it any time without guilt. Hope you all will like this simple healthy touch to regular pasta. Please pour your valuable comments and suggestions here, they meant a lot to me.

Happy cooking....