Love and Calories!!

I have already praised a lot about Pizza in my previous post "Basic Pizza Dough" , so am not repeating it again. In this post, am going to share the recipe of three main variants of an authentic "Pizza Alla Napoletana". Pizza originated from the region of Naples in Italy and it dates back to the 1800's. Later, some Italian migrant went to New York & started his own pizzeria & from then on the Pizza's triumphal journey around the globe started. I read in some magazine that 40 hectares of pizza is consumed every day in the United States..Holly Molly!! American food joints like Pizza Huts & Dominoes started deking lavishly with a variety of ingredients but when I tasted the true Italian Neapoletan Pizza, it stood apart from these cheap American imitations. An authentic Neapolitan Pizza must be: made of dough that is kneaded by hand. its crust must also be formed & flattened by hand & it must be round. The dough consists...

Now there is probably no other word that can be a synonym for "Italian Cuisine".......PIZZA! Who doesn't know about Pizza & who doesn't like Pizzas! And what a great joy you will experience if you know how to make these perfectly at home. If you asked me a decade back, would you try making a pizza at home, I would have said..."Crazy or what!!...Its a fast food dish, best eaten at Pizza Hut or a Dominoes! It is not & cannot be made at home & it won't be as delicious as you get in one of the fast food joints". But when I saw for the first time how my mom-in-law made some delicious pizzas at home with her own luscious toppings, I was spellbound. I slowly started to have a liking towards home baking. It was when I visited Italy, that I found the true taste & look of the authentic pizzas. My previous notions were all wrong. I got a whole different picture of this beautiful dish called PIZZA! An authentic Italian pizza dough is smooth as b...

"In love with Spain" continues & I cooked up another popular dish from the sunshine country, Espana. The world famous "Paella" pronounced as Pa-e-ya is a popular Spanish Rice dish cooked with mainly seafood. It is cooked in a special pan known as La paella (from where the dish gets its name too), which is a wide mouthed thick shallow pan made of iron that helps in quick heat absorption and helps cooking the rice really fast. The authentic paella takes a decent amount of time to cook but nowadays who has time for those elaborate sessions in the kitchen so here is one quick paella recipe which you can make in a jiffy (well about a maximum of 20 minutes). :) The image below is that of an authentic paella pan & the paella rice. You can swap these two with any of the wide mouthed shallow pans already at home & long grain rice respectively. Vegetarians need not be disappointed as they too can substitute the chicken stalk with vegetable stalk & prawns with...

Whenever I thought of making a simple omelette for my breakfast, I always wanted to try out the Spanish version of it but never made for the simple reason that it is super rich & heavy. But last weekend, I just couldn't resist & committed this sin. But my tummy was at peace. Ah! Tortilla! Sabroso! "Spanish Tortilla" is one of the popular Tapas dish in a Spanish cuisine. You should not miss out on this one. This Potato & onion filled thick omelette wedges complete any tapas combination. "Tortilla" in Spanish means "Little Cakes" & this sure looks & tastes like one. You can make these delicious rich tortillas and pack them up in your kids lunch boxes or can even serve as an appetizer at any evening parties. Hot or Cold....Spanish Tortillas can be relished however you want. Yeah...but you need to put aside your guilt for the time being...Remember...I serve you food with love & calories...... ;) Ingredients: 5 large eggs 1 large pot...

I bring you another popular dish from Goa after "Prawn Balchao" . Its the famous "Xacuti" Curry. Xacuti is pronounced as Sha-koo-ty and its origin is from Portugal. As I have mentioned earlier that Goan cuisine is largely influenced by the Portuguese Culinary basics, so you can expect lots and lots of flavourful spices in any of the Goan curries. "Xacuti" masala is prepared by dry roasting all the popular whole spices with grated fresh coconut and combining it with a tang of tamarind juice. You can add chicken, lamb, mutton, seafood or even paneer to this masala and make a delicious Goan Curry. Here I have used mushrooms in my Xacuti Curry to please both vegetarians & non-vegetarians. :) Ingredients: 8 whole cloves 10 whole black peppercorns 1/4 tsp ajwain (carom seeds) 1/2 tsp saunf (fennel seeds) 1/2 tsp jeera (cumin seeds) 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 cinnamon stick 2 star anise 4 dried red chillies 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg (powder) 1 tbsp poppy seeds 1 c...

I have got something special for the pasta lovers this time . With this recipe, turn your simple pasta dish to a delicious Italian "Fine Food". Steamed Chicken parcels are super easy to make and in no time too. Steaming allows you to cook without fat & these little foil parcels retain all the natural juices of the chicken. So cook up some delicious Italian Chicken parcels and bring your routine simple cooking to restaurant standards. Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1 cup fresh basil leaves 2 tbsp hazelnuts 2 garlic cloves 250 gm pasta (any shape, penne or fusilli preferable) (I have used whole wheat pasta, which is a much healthier option) 2 tomatoes (can use sun dried tomatoes also) (chopped) 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp olive oil 10 olives (pitted, green or black) salt & pepper to season Method: Place the chicken breasts between pieces of cling film & eat with a rolling pin to flatten evenly. Blend the basil leaves, hazelnuts, garlic with some...

This is a refreshing and very nutritious salad. Add the dressing just before serving so that the leaves do not become soggy. The total calories are only 130 and its absolutely healthy and filling. I saw this recipe in a food magazine & thought to share it with all of you. :) Ingredients: 250 gm spinach leaves 2 oranges 1/2 red onion Wash the spinach leaves & dry them thoroughly on a kitchen paper. Remove any tough stalks and tear the larger leaves into half. Peel the orange and carefully slice between the membrane of the orange to remove the segments. Reserve any juices for the salad dressing. Finely chop the onion. Mix together the spinach, orange segments & arrange in a serving dish. Scatter the chopped onions over it. SALAD DRESSING: Ingredients: 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp squeezed orange juice 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp honey 1/2 tsp mustard seeds salt & pepper to season Whisk together the above ingredients together in a small bowl. Pour the dr...