Spaghetti and Italy go a long way. More info on this coming your way. For now, enjoy my Sunday trial on the 2nd country on the globe. - Italy . Dad's favourite country and enigmatic in every sense of the word.What is your world tour if not a stopover at this place?
When I did a search on the popular dishes of Italy ,pizza,spaghetti,pasta came up... Pizza is such a used and abused dish that I didn't want to be another spoiling cook of the broth. So lets give a try to the tangled mess,spaghetti.
I borrowed a recipe from the interesting Jamie Oliver and his sojourns of this nation state.From his numerous recipes, all sprinkled generously with anecdotes on his travels , I picked this as something which would be quick and still a novelty.
For 3 people , 250 gm cooked Spaghetti and 200 gm prawns should suffice.
I really think olive oil tastes better for this. not just coz I'm on a weight losing spree :) .It does.
Heat 3 spoonfuls in a large open pan.Avoid aluminum. Add in 2 chopped garlic cloves and 2 crumbled dry red chillies. When garlic looks slightly gorgeous brown,add the prawns and cook for 5 mins on low heat. Don't get tempted coz it doesn't taste good until you add 2 big spoonfuls of tomato puree. Now Jamie recommends puree of sun dried tomatoes,which I didn't get here and was too lazy to make. Yes you can make that puree. Recipe on that later.
Simmer for 10 minutes. When the prawns start to stick slightly then add small glassful white wine. After 5 minutes,add the spaghetti and mix slowly so as not to make it mushy enuf for the next V day :)
Add juice of half lemon ,salt,ground black pepper,zest and chopped rocket/basil leaves.
These rocket leaves made me rocket from Psar mall to Nams and ofcourse I didn't find it! So I got Basil instead.
Mix well.Add olive oil if it gets sticky. Serve with sausages.
The trick is,I may be trying dishes of faraway places ,but I get equally far away looks when I try it on my friends,nearest and first being my roommates. Either it is of appreciation of yumm-how-could-Treez-manage-this? or duh-whats-this!. I got the second look today. When I checked again,it tasted a little bland. I added more salt,pepper and lemon juice. Take it from me ,it is really tough to satisfy the Indian palate. I almost was tempted to add turmeric and chat masala to remove the blasted blandness!! But I am determined to remain true to the essence of this blog (seems like next I'll get an anthem for my blog !! :-) )
It finally tasted just allright. I guess you really need to get the rocket leaves. Apparently, true to it's name, it really has a strong and tangy taste.
So voila! Here is Spaghetti con gamberetti e rucola. gustoso!
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