Pumpkin Soup

This delicious and easy to prepare pumpkin soup recipe is a dieter's dream. Pumpkins are a vegetable that are very low in calories, contain no saturated fats or cholesterol, are a rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, minerals and vitamins. 

This recipe serves: 12 

Ingredients :

• 2kg pumpkin (use the dark green skin pumpkin, easy to cut)
• 2 large onions sliced or diced
• 4 slices short cut bacon, fat removed, chopped (bacon is optional, you may remove it from the list)
• 2 potatoes peeled and cubed.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (cumino)
• 1 litre beef stock or 4 cubes powdered with 1 litre water

Sardines Greek Salad

Sardines are also known as pilchards. They're really good, inexpensive, sustainable and full of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Sardines sometimes get overlooked because of all their little bones, but when you cook them whole, you can strip out all the bones in one piece.  

Look for sardines that are clean-smelling and whole. Try to avoid bruised fish, and definitely avoid any fish with "belly burn," a condition where the belly is broken and the guts are starting to come out. This is a sign of an old fish, suitable only for salting down. Another thing, sardines do not freeze well. The oils in them turn rancid even in a freezer, and the flesh becomes a mushy mess when thawed. My advice: Never freeze fresh sardines.

For this Greek Salad, use sardines with skin and bones (which are edible) as they have more than four times the amount of calcium as skinless, boneless sardines.  

Ingredients :

Salad :

3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 medium tomatoes, cut into large chunks
1 large cucumber, cut into large chunks
125ml can chickpeas, rinsed
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons sliced olives
 

Pairing Pasta with Perfect Sauce

You may not think about it every time you open a box of pasta, but the shape you choose plays an important role in the outcome of the dish. The right shape can make a good sauce great; the wrong shape can dampen the appeal of even the best sauce.

Long or short, smooth or ridged, thick or thin, with or without curves and crevices, different shapes of pasta capture and absorb sauce differently. Matched correctly—rigatoni with a hearty sausage sauce—and you have a hit, a pleasing interplay between the texture of the pasta and the components of the sauce. In this case, the pieces of sausage are captured in the hollow of the pasta. Matched less well—the same meat sauce paired with capellini (angel hair pasta)—and you get the vague sense that something is wrong. I say vague, because this kind of mistake is not always apparent; the food may look good and smell good, but it just doesn't come together well. In the case of the capellini, the delicate noodles can't support the meat sauce, which gets left behind in the bowl as the pasta gets eaten.

Pasta Fusilli with Zucchini Pesto and Salmon

Fusilli with pesto zucchini (a.k.a. summer squash or courgette) and salmon is a creamy dish with delicate flavor as the soft zucchini pesto made with almonds joins a fresh salmon cut into thin strips, shaded with white wine.
 

Just a good glass of dry white wine is ideal to accompany this first course of fish. You can also use other type of pasta, like farfalle or linguine! Meanwhile, let's try pasta fusilli with zucchini pesto and salmon!

pasta fusilli

Ingredients :
     400 gr pasta 'fusilli'
     250 gr salmon sliced
     1 clove garlic, chopped
     Salt and pepper

 

Ingredients for zucchini pesto :
     2 pcs of medium zucchini ( or about 200 gr)
     2 table spoon of extra virgin olive oil
     10 gr of almonds, slice
     10 gr of fresh basil leaves
     30 gr grated parmesan cheese
     Salt
     30 gr white wine

Cooking and Serving Pasta

Cooking

Pasta is cooked in a heavy bottomed saucepan, 3/4 full of salted water. You can, if you wish, add flavour to the boiling water, such as  freshly cracked black pepper, herbs, spices, garlic, etc. Flavoring the boiling water this way, will eventually flavor the pasta. The pasta needs to be able to move freely in the boiling water, therefore use a big pot and enough water for large quantities. Otherwise, it will become to starchy and sticky. But you do not need massive amounts of water to cook your pasta in. A general rule of thumb is that the pasta must be sealed with the boiling water. Long dried pastas, like spaghetti, need to be gradually pushed into the water. You will put the pasta in the pot and wait till it softens, then push it in slightly, and so on until its covered.
The perfect doneness of pasta is called 'al dente'; which is when the pasta is no longer hard to chew, yet has a slight bite, is firm and holding shape. With fresh pasta, al dente is when the pasta is firm, holds shape and too soft, which is overcooked. Do not over cook pasta - until it is too soft and loses shape.
The cooking time depends on the quality of the pasta, its size and the amount cooked. As a general guide (but do check your pasta while cooking to make sure): Dried Vermicelli takes 4-5 mins; Dried Long Pastas like Spaghetti take 11-12 mins; and large pastas take about 15 - 20 minutes. All fresh pastas take from 3-8 minutes, depending on their size. Timing begins when the water returns to boiling after the pasta had been added.

Pasta Calamarata with Swordfish Sauce

Squid with swordfish sauce is presented as a first course from the Mediterranean taste, it is suitable to be prepared in spring and summer. Use perfectly ripe cherry tomatoes to get more intense flavor.

Ingredients :


     300 gr pasta 'calamarata'
     250 gr cherry tomatoes, cut each tomato into 4 pcs (quarters)
     2 pcs salted anchovies, rinse with water, remove the bones and have them chopped
     5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
     2 cloves garlic, chopped
     1 bunch parsley, chopped
     freshly grounded pepper to taste
     salt
     25ml white wine
     1 pc (about 200 gr) of swordfish / pesce spada

Pasta Types and Their Common Names

1. Campanelle       
2. Mini Bow Ties       
3. Gnocchi  
4. Spaghetti       
5. Manicotti             
6. Penne
7. Ravioli           
8. Linguine               
9. Fine Egg Noodles  
10. Mafalda     
11. Orzo (rosamarina)   
12. Fusilli  
13. Couscous    
14. Small Shell Macaroni   
15. Rotini  
16. Capellini         
17. Wide Egg Noodles       
18. Lumache

Udang Pedas Asam Manis

Bagi penggemar udang seperti saya, ini dia resep yang cukup nendang rasanya. Selamat mencoba!

Bahan :

• 300 g udang besar, bersihkan, jika suka masak dengan kepalanya, jika tidak buang kepalanya
• 1 buah jeruk nipis, ambil airnya
• 1 cm jahe, iris
• 1 sdt gula merah
• 2 sdm saus sambal
• 2 sdm saus tomat
• ½ sdt merica bubuk
• 1 sdt garam
• 300ml air
• 1 butir telur ayam, kocok lepas