Friday, May 1, 2009

Broccoli and Pasta Bake

I have been doing a lot of cooking, but either we are all too hungry, or so busy chatting and munching, that I havent taken any pics to post.
Last Sunday was lunch at my brother's place and I made aloo tikki with khattey meethey choley from Ranjani's blog and espresso panna cotta from Deeba's. Ma made dahi vada and my sister-in-law made pulav, ginger potatoes and a lovely boondi raita.

Today, I finally made bread after two attempts of yeast not rising, because of the lovely weather here !!
Also made a broccoli pasta bake, which turned out quite filling.



Combined a whole lot of recipes I've tried earlier for my broccoli pasta bake, threw in a few mushrooms and capsicums and layered it with potato, breadcrumb, egg and cheese.
This particular layer of egg was something I had seen on one of the Nigella Express shows, where she whipped up some cornflour, cheese, egg and milk and topped it over a soup, if I remember right and it gave it a souffle effect, which looked so awesome - everything she makes looks awesome anyway !
I skipped the cheese in the milk and added it as a separate layer over the egg layer. It set the dish real well and gave it this nice firm look. Unfortunately, the dish was too deep, so while pulling out a slice, it got messed a bit, but tasted great anyways...
The bread tuned out nice too. More on that in my next post.

The sauteed veggies which was the first layer...



Next came the potatoes, breadcrumbs and egg and cheese.
And here's the bake, all nice and brown...




What you need

1 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup mushrooms (use more if you like, I had just this much at home)
1 onion
1 tomato
1 green capsicum / bell pepper
1 cup pasta (Use any short pasta - I used mini farfalle)
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp mozzarella shredded
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 tsp chili flakes
1 egg
3 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 potatoes boiled

You can finish the topping with either the breadcrumbs or potato or eggs. I was just in the mood to add everythign I had !

What you do with it -

Boil water in a large pot with some salt and a drop of oil
Put the pasta in it and boil for 5-7 mins
Drain and water and set aside
Chop the capsicum, onion and tomato
Quarter the mushrooms
Cut brocolli into small florets
Heat a tsp of butter, add the onions, capsicum and brocolli and saute
Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and saute some more
Add the chopped tomato and pasta
Keep on heat for 2 mins and turn off the heat
Beat an egg with 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp cornflour, a little salt and oregano to it
Mash the boiled potatoes with 1/2 tsp butter and a pinch of salt
In a greased pan, pour in the pasta, then add a layer of mashed potatoes
Top it with a layer of breadcrumbs and then pour the beaten egg mixture
spread the grated cheese over it
Preheat the oven to 180 deg C
Bake for about 20-25 mins till the cheese is nice and brown

9 comments:

FH said...

Trisha loves Pasta and Broccoli, looks yummy! :)

SJ said...

That is so yummy! Hey if you have a termometer check the temperature of the water before adding the yeast I also add 1 tsp sugar to the water-makes the yeast grow faster. When its cold, I usually set the oven to 180F for 10-15 mins switch off the oven and plop dough in. It raises beautifully. Sorry for radiating my ahem 'gyan" but not sure if you knew this. Did I mention before how JEALOUS I am- amma, brother, sister in law WAHHHHHHHHHHHHH....

Manju said...

simple and yummy dinner recipe!!

chef and her kitchen said...

Thanks for visiting my blog Arch.Even you have a nice blog gal..
yummy broccoli n paste bake..

Deepthi Shankar said...

wow thatz really yummy

Priya Suresh said...

Am ready to have this bake rite now!

Anonymous said...

This is definitely a keeper! I love that egg effect you described!

A_and_N said...

Yay! :) I love broccoli only when cooked. I have no idea how people eat it raw.

Anyway - SJ and her gyaan. Sigh, some people.

eljay said...

Your pasta bake looks so good, I want to try it. Do you think I can do it without the egg?

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