Penne with Cottage Cheese

By -
Posted by: Nitika
Serving Size: 2





I tried this pasta a few years ago and I have to tell you - the ground almonds and raisins add that 'magic' touch to this recipe. Plus, the cottage cheese or paneer adds a filling flavor without settling on your chest! I made this pasta for our Holiday lunch at work and it was quite appreciated as the 'desi' version of pasta w/o the familiar desi spices.

Ingredients:
Penne (or Rigatoni) pasta - 1/2 lb
Red Onion - 1 big, (cut lengthwise)
Green bell pepper - 1 big,(cut lengthwise)
Fresh mint leaves - 5-8
Fresh basil leaves - 5-8
Paneer - 1/2 cup (grated)
Sugar - 1 tsp
White wine - 1/2-2/3rd cup (I used Chardonnay)
Classico Cabernet Marinara - 2/3rd of a bottle
Almonds - 1/4 cup (coarsely ground)
Roasted slivered almonds - 1/4 cup
Golden raisins - 1/4 cup (coarsely ground)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) - 3 tbsp

1.Boil around 3 quarts of water, add salt, EVOO, and add the pasta and cook al dente (for more instructions on cooking pasta refer to "Cooking Pasta 101" in the "More on Cooking" section of this blog)
2. Heat a non stick pan, add oil, onions, sugar and saute (don't over cook the onions)
3. Add green bell pepper, saute lightly
4. Add salt, black pepper
5. Add mint and basil, saute and in a minute or less, add the cooked pasta
6. Add wine and in a minute or less, add the marinara sauce
7. Add grated paneer (save some for garnishing)
7. Cook for another 2-3 minutes
8. Add ground almonds and raisins and mix
9. Garnish with the roasted almonds and some cottage cheese!

Thank you, Anu - for typing (or copying/pasting) this recipe here.

Comments

Post a Comment

Welcome to our food blog. Please feel free to leave your comments or suggestions for improvements in a recipe. If you try any of the recipes here, please send us your feedback or pictures and we will post it on the blog.

Popular posts from this blog

Vegetarian Thai Red Curry

By -
Image
Looks like I am on a curry spree! One of my favorite cuisines on this planet, even talking about it makes my mouth water...slurp! I suddenly thought about Thai food today and luckily I had all the basic ingredients in my pantry so tonight's dinner was the Thai Red Curry! Aside, I have always been wary of using others' recipes and have had many discussions with my co-blogger and other close friends about copyright and related topics. While we have come across people who steal pictures from the original recipe and claim it as their own (yes, unfortunately such creeps do exist!), I have also seen bloggers who take copyright to a whole new level by picking open fights on blogs and "walls" (we definitely try to stay away from this kind!).I came across a useful  article   today on foodblogforum that talks about recipe-attribution-etiquettes, I thought it might be worth sharing here. After that quick sanity check, back to my red curry :) ...
Read more

Quinoa Upma

By -
Image
Upma is a comfort food in South India. Rava, semiya, rice, bread - no matter what your base ingredient is - making upma can never be difficult and a basic upma is always a Quick Fix Recipe! This time I decided to make upma with a new ingredient, something I have been wanting to try for a long time now - Quinoa!! Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah ) is a very-high-protein grain thus making it an unusually complete protein source especially for vegetarians and vegans. The grain is native to South America and was once considered the "mother grain" by the Incas. Click here for more information and for the nutritional benefits of Quinoa. Quinoa may not be available in your regular grocery store, look for it in a health food store. I picked up mine from Whole Foods. Ingredients: Quinoa - 1/2 cup Garlic - 2 medium sized pods, chopped 1/2 inch size Onion - 1/4 of a big onion, chopped 1/2 inch size Vegetables (carrot, peas, beans) - 1/4 cup, finely chopped (I was not fully prepared w...
Read more

Kesari to kick off Navaratri

By -
Image
Happy navaratri everyone! I am sure most of our readers need no introduction to this festival but for all others,  navaratri ( "nava" means 9, "ratri" means night ) is a Hindu festival that celebrates the 9 forms of Shakti  - the female divine force in Hinduism. While the festival is celebrated all over India, each region and each community has it's own traditions. From Durga Puja in the east to Kolu in the south, from Gharba in the west to Dussehra in the north, the rituals are quite varied!  Our Kolu for this year is all ready and I decided to make a sweet dish to mark the beginning of navaratri today. Maha and I are veterans at combined cooking through the phone, 3000 miles apart! We usually pick South Indian dishes that are complicated or simple/common recipes that we haven't tried or been able to master yet. Our pick for today was Kesari.  Kesari (or  sojji ) is also known as Sheera in Maharashtra and Sooji ka Halwa in North India. K...
Read more