Italian Bliss
There is hardly anything that can replace the comfort of pasta drenched in flavours of tomato and garlic. In case you feel puzzled to choose the bread to go with your pasta we come prepared for you.
Garlic Flower Buns
Ingredients
Bread
- Flour: 250gm
- Milk/Water: 120-125gm
- Salt: 5gm
- Sugar: 20gm
- Yeast: 5gm
- Butter/Oil: 25gm
For shine
- 1 egg (or butter) Pinch of salt
Flavouring
- Garlic: 5 pods
- Butter: 2 tbsp
- 1 tsp dried herbs (you can use parsley)
Steps
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water/milk. I used milk because I like the texture that it imparts to the bread.
Without waiting for the yeast to form bubbles, add the flour and start mixing. If the mixture feels too dry, add 10-15 ml of water and start kneading.
When it forms a rough dough, add the salt and butter/oil to it and knead for another 8-10 mins, until it forms a soft dough. If the dough feels stiff, continue kneading for another 5-10 mins, until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Keep it in the corner for 40-45 mins, till it doubles in size.
Take the dough out from the bowl, cut it into strips and divide it into small balls. Keep the balls on an oiled baking tray in whichever pattern you may like, leaving some space between them, since they will expand while proofing. Apply some egg wash to avoid the dough balls getting dry.
Keep them away for another 40-45 mins and they’ll double in size. Again brush with egg wash and place the tray in a 180 degree preheated oven for 15-20 mins, until the bread is golden brown.
Mix butter, chopped garlic and herbs in a bowl and apply on warm bread using a brush. Serve warm.
Spaghetti Arrabiata
Ingredients
- Virgin olive oil: 4 tbsp.
- Small red onion: 1, finely chopped
- Garlic: 6 large cloves, minced
- Tomatoes: 400 grams (6-7 tomatoes)
- Black pepper: 1/2 tsps., crushed
- Red pepper flakes: 4 tsps.
- Dried herbs, to taste
- Spaghetti: 250 grams
- Fresh basil leaves
- Salt to taste
Steps
1. Heat water in a pot, add salt, a little oil and bring it to a boil.
2. Add your spaghetti and tomatoes and cook till the spaghetti is all dense.
3. Drain, wash spaghetti and tomatoes with cold water and keep the starch water in which you boiled the pasta and tomatoes aside.
4. Remove the peel of the tomatoes and blitz. Keep the tomato puree aside.
5. In a pan, heat olive oil on medium and sauté garlic and chopped onion. Add chili flakes, cook for another minute or so and then add the tomato puree.
6. Add the salt, pepper, herbs and basil and cook for 10-15 min, till the colour of the sauce becomes a shade or two deeper.
7. Now toss your al dente spaghetti in the pan, add the starch water collected while boiling the pasta and cook for another 2-3 min.
8. Transfer the Spaghetti Arrabiata to a serving bowl, garnish with fresh basil and serve hot.
Note
Simmering the tomatoes in the same boiling water as the pasta, helps to cook the tomatoes and hence, the cooking time of the sauce gets reduced.
Do not discard the starch water from the pasta. It helps to give volume and saucy-consistency to the pasta sauce.
From the October 2020 issue of FHM India.
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