Baked Pasta

Posted in Random shizz, Savoury by Spatula in My Pocket

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy… the ultimate comfort food!

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy, and is the ultimate comfort food!

Stress is mounting high people. So much to do, so less time:

Looming college applications
Cursed personal statements
Corporate law stress
People problems
Diet fiascos

…amidst other stuff has me sleeping 8 hours straight, hoarding up on chocolate and peanuts, and procrastinating like it’s the end of the world!

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy, and is the ultimate comfort food!

pasta tossed in a rich meaty Bolognese sauce, loaded with a béchamel sauce aka white sauce, and then topped with loads of cheese.

Times like these call for comfort food. And nothing can trump pasta when it comes to comfort food. Not in my house.

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy, and is the ultimate comfort food!

Loaded with cheese and a rich sauce…this baked pasta is hearty and meaty and deliciously satisfying!

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy, and is the ultimate comfort food!

It involves tossing pasta in a rich meaty Bolognese sauce, loading it up with béchamel sauce aka white sauce, and then topping the whole thing with loads of cheese.

Delicious, right?

pasta tossed in a rich meaty Bolognese sauce, loaded with a béchamel sauce aka white sauce, and then topped with loads of cheese.

pasta tossed in a rich meaty Bolognese sauce, loaded with a béchamel sauce aka white sauce, and then topped with loads of cheese.

I’ve made this pasta over a bazillion times now. At dinners and gatherings, whenever friends are over, or just on days like these…sad gloomy miserable days.

One pan makes about 8 servings, perfect for parties. You can prepare it ahead of time and freeze it until you are ready to bake it.

pasta tossed in a rich meaty Bolognese sauce, loaded with a béchamel sauce aka white sauce, and then topped with loads of cheese.

If you guys love this recipe as much as I do, and most importantly make it yourselves, please let me know. Take a picture and tag it #spatulainmypocket on Instagram. I’d love to see what you guys come up with!

Baked Pasta

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Tomato-Meat Sauce

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste, heaped

1 carrot, chopped

½ kilo ground beef

1 teaspoon red chili flakes, leveled

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper, leveled

½ cup tomato paste

½ cup sliced mushrooms

White Sauce

2 Tablespoon butter

4 Tablespoon flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon white or black pepper

½ teaspoon mustard powder

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup whole milk

2 Tablespoon shredded cheddar cheese

The rest

1 packet of pasta, prepared according to package directions

Mozzarella cheese, shredded

Dried Oregano

Directions:

1. In a pan, heat oil. Fry the chopped onion till it changes color and becomes soft. Add in the ginger garlic paste and fry till golden brown. Add in the carrot. Mix. Then add in the beef and mushrooms. Mix well on high heat for a few minutes. Then add in the; chili flakes, salt, and black pepper. Keep mixing till meat changes color. Then add in a cup of water along with tomato paste. Mix, cover, and leave to cook on low heat for 30-40 minutes.

2. While sauce is simmering, cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Drain.

3. Add drained pasta to the meat sauce, mix and turn off heat. Put the pasta mixture into a large casserole dish and set aside.

4. For the white sauce: In a small saucepan, heat the butter. Once melted, take the pan off the heat and add in the flour, salt, black pepper, and mustard powder. Mix well using a wooden spoon and bring back to heat. Cook for a minute before adding in the stock and milk. On low-medium heat, mix continuously till the sauce thickens. Remove off the heat and add in the cheddar cheese.

5. Pour the entire sauce over the pasta. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and oregano on top.

6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 25-30 minutes.

This Baked Pasta is creamy and cheesy, and is the ultimate comfort food!

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Stuffed Italian Pirazo Pie

Posted in Savoury by Spatula in My Pocket

Remember how I ranted on about college starting in my last post? Well, it did start and so much has been happening since then that I haven’t had the time to post anything. Group problems, project dilemmas, frenemies, general steering clear of some evil people, and what not.

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

If there’s any recipe fit for a mighty comeback it would be a pie. Nothing beats a good ole pie!

A savory pie to be exact. Made with meat and cheese and dough and carbs.

It is so so good! I kid you not.

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

This recipe consists of two separate recipes.

one is for the pie filling,
the second is for the base and top of the pie which is essentially a tweaked up recipe of my foolproof pizza dough

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

It makes for two pies. I made one with the beef filling, and stuffed the other one with a random shredded spicy chicken mix.

You can go wild with the filling;

sub the ground with chicken or sausages
add in corn, beans, mushrooms
drizzle in some Sriracha
or a dash of paprika

This is YOUR pie and the world is your pickle. Add in anything and everything your heart desires!

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

How this pie works?

You fit half of the dough onto a pie plate, spoon on the filling, and then top with another piece of rolled out dough; plain or go fancy like I did with some rusty lattice work.

If you want to learn how to do proper pie lattice, check out this tutorial.

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

This pie does take time to come together.

Make the dough. Let it proof.
Make the filling. Let it cool.
Assemble the pie.
Bake. Let it cool.

And THEN you get to dig in.

But it’s all well worth the time and effort…for this pie really is scrummy. You’ll find yourself going in for second And third helpings. Maybe more. :3

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

I’m sure you’ll love this Italian Pirazo Pie; it’s a twist on the classic meat pie, easy to make and deeply comforting.

If you have any questions or comments let me know in the comment box down below. 🙂

Stuffed Italian Pirazo Pie

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

For the Dough

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more as needed

1 standard packet (1/4 ounce) or 2 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 egg

¼ cup vegetable oil

½ cup whole milk

Lukewarm water, as needed

For the Filling

2 Tbsp cooking oil

1 tsp ginger garlic paste

250g ground beef

½ tsp red chilli flakes

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

½ tsp cumin powder

1 tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp tomato ketchup

¼ tsp garam masala (all-spice powder)

1 green chilli, finely chopped

Fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

Cheddar cheese, shredded

Sesame seeds

1 egg, for egg wash

Directions

DOUGH

In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, the egg, oil, and the milk. Slowly mix in the water with your hands till all the ingredients are mixed well and dough starts to form.

Knead the dough for 5-7 minutes on a floured counter top till the dough becomes smooth and is no longer sticky. Add more flour if it is still sticky.

Bang the dough on the counter top 7-8 times for elasticity.

Shape the dough in a ball and place in a greased bowl. Brush the top lightly with some oil. Cover with plastic or a kitchen cloth, and allow the dough to rise somewhere warm until doubled in size, around 2 hours. In the meantime, prepare the filling.

FILLING

Heat oil in a pan, and fry the ginger garlic paste till golden brown. Add in the ground beef. Cook till the beef changes color, stirring constantly, for around 3-4 minutes. Add in the red chilli flakes, salt, black pepper, cumin powder, chopped tomato, and the tomato paste along with a ¼ cup of water. Mix. Cover and let it simmer on low heat for 10-12 minutes.

Then, increase the heat, and let excess water evaporate, stirring constantly. Add in the ketchup, bell pepper, coriander, garam masala, and the chopped green chilli. Mix well.

Set aside, and allow to cool.

ASSEMBLING

Punch down the dough and divide in half. Roll both halves, onto a floured counter surface, in the shape of two circles around 10 inches wide or according to the size of your pie plate.

Place one half of the rolled out dough onto a greased pie dish. Spoon on the filling. Top with shredded cheese. Place the other rolled out half of the dough on top. Crimp the edges. Brush with a beaten egg. Sprinkle on a few sesame seeds.

Bake at 200 degrees C for 25-30 minutes till its golden brown.

Enjoy!

Italian Pirazo Pie; a twist on the classic meat pie.

Stir-Fry Pasta with Ground Beef

Posted in Savoury by Spatula in My Pocket

Now that I’m well into college, anxiety has begun to sink its sharp little claws into my brain.

It’s only the sixth week of this semester, for crying out loud, I’m already drowning under a sea of assignments, and quizzes, mandis and project proposals..
I have constant fears that I’ve forgotten an assignment, or a reading, or left something somewhere etc. etc.

I’ve been posting a lot less too. Not that I haven’t been cooking…that I’ve been doing every day. It’s just the documenting part that gnaws at me, that I do not like doing in the least. Anyhow, I decided to update with this short post. A very easy to make pasta. Warm, comforting, saucy, with just a hint of spice. Add some rosemary. Some chili garlic sauce. Put your own spin on it. And lemme know how it turns out.

Stir-Fry Pasta with Ground Beef

Ingredients:

1 packet of pasta, of your choice

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup sliced onion

½ cup ground beef

1 teaspoon salt, leveled *or to taste

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed black pepper

½ teaspoon chili flakes, leveled

½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves

½ teaspoon sugar

1 Tablespoon soya sauce

½ teaspoon vinegar

2 Tablespoon oil

1 bell pepper (aka capsicum), chopped

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Set aside.

In a pan, heat the oil. Fry the chopped onions. When golden brown, add the ground beef, mix. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly. When the beef changes color, turns white from pink, add ¼ cup of water along with all the seasonings; salt, black pepper, chili flakes, garlic powder, oregano, and sugar. Mix to combine.

Now lower heat, and add the vinegar, ketchup, and soya sauce. Reduce flame, and let it simmer for a minute or two.

Then add in the chopped bell pepper. Toss well. Cook for a minute more on high flame.

Then add in the boiled pasta. Mix well.

Garnish with some chopped coriander or green onion, and serve hot.

Notes:

Adjust the chili flakes, and the black pepper according to how spicy you like it.

If you want to make the pasta more ‘saucier’, add a tad bit more ketchup. You can add in a teaspoon of tomato paste too.

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