Mac 'n' Cheese

"Mac 'n' Cheese" is a popular snack/ breakfast item. It is basically macaroni pasta cooked in a cheesy sauce. Its very easy and kids friendly recipe. After quite number of south Indian dish posts I wanted to make a versatile post. Love the mild sweetness of this pasta. I wont say this is the authentic recipe but this sauce works pretty well for us both while making mac 'n' cheese and for using in other pasta based dishes! Sharing my version hope you like it too :).

MacAroni and Cheese

Cuisine: Italian Category: Breakfast Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: -- Cook time: 20 mins Servings:  2

Ingredients Macaroni pasta 1/2 cup Salt 1/2 tsp flat Olive oil 1 Tsp For white sauce Pasta Maida 1 Tsp Heaped Butter 1 Tbsp Garlic 2 flakes Milk 1 Cup Cheddar Cheese 1 Tbsp Salt 1/4 Tsp flat Chilli Flakes A small pinch Italian Seasoning A small pinch

Method     1.     In pan boil 2 cup water adding salt and olive oil. Once water starts boiling add the macaroni and cook for 8-10 minutes. Drain the cooked pasta and rinse it with cold water.     2.     Chop the garlic flakes very finely and grate the cheese. In a heavy bottomed pan add butter and once it melts add garlic along with maida and sauté in medium flame for few minutes.     3.     Slowly add milk and keep stirring to avoid any lumps. You can use a whisk at this stage. Add grated cheese and keep stirring for 2-3 minutes till the sauce thickens. Add cooked pasta and mix well.    4.     Check for salt at this stage and add if necessary. Finally garnish with chili flakes and Italian seasoning. Serve hot immediately!

Notes       ·         Take care not to over roast the maida. Saute in medium flame for 2-3 minutes to get nice aroma.       ·         Do not add more maida than the mentioned amount.       ·         In case you find some lumps in the sauce you can strain it and use the sauce.       ·         Cheese will have salt in it so add salt finally as mentioned according to your taste.       ·         You can skip garlic and olive oil if they are not available. But I recommend to use them otherwise.

Easy and yummy pasta ready :)!!!  

Penne Arrabiata

Penne Arrabiata is basically a pasta made using tomato based sauce. It's very easy and filling breakfast or dinner. Since ready made sauce is easily available I never tried to make this pasta sauce at home. However will surely make a post once I try it at home!. Usually vegetables are not added to this pasta but I always add them as it makes the dish more filling, healthy and colourful too! Lets see how to make this yummy dish :)

Red Sauce Pasta

Cuisine: Italian Category: Main Course Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 5 mins Cook time: 20 mins Servings: 2-3

Ingredients Tomato based pasta sauce 1.5 cup Penne Pasta 1 cup Salt 1 tsp flat Cheddar cheese(optional) 1 Tbsp Mixed vegetables 1/2 cup Olive oil 3 Tsp Preparation     1.     Chop the vegetables into medium sized cubes (I used carrot and capsicum). Grate the cheese.

Method             1.     In a wide pan heat 3 cup water by adding 1/2 Tsp salt and 1 Tsp olive oil. Once the water starts boiling and the pasta and cook for 8-10 mins. Drain and rinse the cooked pasta with cold running water.      2.     In pan add remaining oil and saute the vegetables in medium flame. Add salt and cook till the vegetables become soft. Add the pasta sauce and let it boil for a minute. Add the cooked pasta and mix well.      3.     Finally top up with grated cheese and serve hot.

Notes        ·         You can use other pasta varieties like spaghetti and fusili        ·         Onion, zuchini can also be added to this pasta. Or you can skip vegetables too.        ·         I used Prego brand pasta sauce.      ·         Cheddar gives nice taste but you can skip if it's not available. Do not add any other type of cheese especially avoid mozzarella.

 Restaurant style pasta ready in minutes :)!!! 

Cheesy Veg sandwich

This is another nice recipe I learnt from my dear neighbor and friend Ramya. I make this sandwich quite often it is very filling and healthy breakfast loaded with vegetables. Tastes divine on rainy days and perfect for a lazy weekend morning. You can make it for evening snacks/ dinner also but its good to have cheese in morning than night. Lets see the recipe :)

Cheesy Veg Sandwich

Cuisine: Indian Category: Breakfast Difficulty level: Easy Prep Time: 10 mins Cook time: 30 mins Servings: 4

Ingredients Bread slices 16 Potato 1 large sized Capsicum 1 Salt 1 tsp flat Turmeric A small pinch Chili Powder 1 tsp flat Garam masala 1 tsp flat Oil 1 tbsp Butter 2 tbsp Cheese 1/4 cup Preparation      1.     Chop the vegetables into small cubes and grate the cheese.

Method            1.     In pan add oil along with chopped vegetables. Add salt, turmeric and cook in medium flame. Once they become soft add chili powder along with garam masala and saute for few more minutes and switch off flame.     2.     Take a bread slice and spread a thin layer of grated cheese. Add the vegetable stuffing.      3.     Top up with another thin layer of cheese. Cover with a bread slice.     4.     Apply little butter to tawa and toast the sandwich till both sides become golden brown.     5.     Serve hot with tomato ketchup!!                                            Notes

·         I used tri colour capsicum. You can use just green bell pepper alone.       ·         You can add other veggies like onion, tomato, carrot, beans as per your taste.       ·         If you have cheese slice cut them into 4 small squares and use for layering. But I would recommend block cheese as it is easy to spread uniformly.

Looks colourful is'nt it? :)