Exotic Italian dishes

This is Neha and we are back….

With hubby’s every long business trip, cooking spree comes to a break, but once we are back together, it starts in an even bigger way with more recipes to try, and newer ingredients to experiment with.

This time we started with some new Italian dishes.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper Pasta

A dish you will rarely find even in authentic Italian restaurants but something I'v been dying to cook ever since I learnt it in a cooking class. So here goes a fantastic new recipe. Enjoy!

Roast juicy Bell Peppers in oven or on a charcoal grill till their skin turns black. Once it is done, seal them into a zip lock bag and let the pepper sweat (say for about 10 mins).

Meanwhile, take a pan, roast some pine nuts (walnuts can be a good substitute). Keep them aside when they turn golden brown.

In a separate pan, add some olive oil, throw in some chopped garlic and onion, and saute till golden brown.

Take out the pepper. Peel it off and de-seed it. Mash it in mixer and also add roasted pine nuts to it. Add the paste to the pan with onion and garlic. Add milk for required consistency, salt, and black and white pepper to taste. 

Toss in the boiled pasta and its done. Garnish it with basil leaves and Parmesan cheese. Try it, you won't regret.

Eggplant Parmigiana

We have tried eggplant recently in Chinese cooking and been wanting to make an Italian dish out of it. Saw this version at some restaurants and thought of trying it at home. It turned out to be a delight. It really is a healthier version of the more common chicken dish. The baked cheese and marinara sauce combo is mouth-watering. Go for it.

Slice eggplant in 1 cm thick slices and rub sea salt (works faster than normal salt) on it and leave it for 30 mins.

In the meantime, prepare marinara sauce with the pulp of juicy tomatoes and finely chopped onions and garlic.

Dry the salted eggplant slices with paper towel and once the sauce is ready, layer it up in the baking dish as follows.

Place Eggplant slices followed by a generous helping of marinara sauce. Then add some parmasean cheese, and repeat the same to make multiple layers. Cover it up with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake it for 30 mins at 180 degrees and of course  - Serve it hot !!