Pasta sauce with eggplant, red capsicum & currants

Here is a twist on the usual Italian style pasta sauce, this one has exotic Persian flavours of eggplant, currants and cumin and is from the book "East to live"by Sue Radd and Dr Kenneth Setchell

Serves 4

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1/2 medium eggplant, cut into strips
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, crushed
500g bottled tomato pasta sauce
1/4 cup currants
pinch of salt, optional
pinch hot paprika, optional
12 pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons coriander, finely chopped

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the capsicum until it softens.

2. Add the eggplant strips to the pan and mix with the capsicum. Cover the pan and sauté for about 10 min or until the eggplant strips soften and start turning golden brown.

3. Add the cumin and garlic and fry for 1 min.  Mix in the tomato pasta sauce, currants, pinch of salt, pinch of hot paprika and an extra 1/2 cup of water. Allow the sauce to simmer, half-covered for another 10 minutes, until flavours cook through.

4. Toss in the olives and coriander and serve the sauce piping hot on top of cooked pasta. Both spirali and penne pasta work well.

Heavenly Fettuccine Alfredo

This masterpiece s from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli and is hands down the best Fettucine Alfredo I've ever had, and more! It is bursting with flavour, and while being comforting and filling doesen;t leave you with the heavy feeling cream does. I have not tried it iwth almonds yet and have a feeling they wouldnt blend up as easily as cashews.

TIPS: I made a few small changes to the recipe.
1. a less health version, I used Nuttlex to cook the onion and garlic, to give a more authentic taste (as the original is in butter
2. I added an extra clove of garlic
3. I added the full 2 cups of water but would suggest trying 1.5 first and then slowly adding the rest till you get the desired thickenss.
4. the tip about the blender is also very important! luckily i have a vitamix, but i know from past experience that a good blender can make a huge difference to the overall quality of the sauce. I also recomand grinding the nuts up in a coffee grinder before blending everything if you don't have a a blender with a lot of power.

SERVES 4 TO 6
1 pound fettuccine
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup raw cashews or blanched almonds*
2 cups water
2 teaspoons white miso paste, optional
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh Italian parsley, for garnish
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add fettuccine and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and let cook until soft. Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat.
In a blender, combine onions and garlic, cashews, water, miso paste if desired, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Process on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
Toss hot pasta with sauce until noodles are evenly coated. Adjust seasoning to taste. If sauce gets too thick, add a little water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Garnish with parsley and serve.
*If you are not using a high-powered blender, such as a Vitamix, soak cashews or almonds overnight or boil for 10 minutes and drain. This will soften them and ensure a silky smooth cream.

"Honey" and Mustard Tofu Penne

This is a veganised version of a recipe from Women's fitness magazine.

serves 2

50g wholewheat penne pasta
140g tofu
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
50 mushrooms, sliced
3-5 cherry tomatos, halved
1/4 tablespoon light mayonnaise (soy)
1 tsp wholegrain mustart
1/4 tablespoon agave syrup

1. cook the penne pasta according to the instructions on the packet, then drain.

2. Meanwhile cook the tofu under a grill until cooked, turned halfway, then cut into bit-sized chunks.

3, heat oil in large frying pan, add onion and garlic, cook for 3 min or until onion softens. Add the celery, mushrooms and tomatos and cook for 5 min or until the mushrooms soften.

4. Mix the mayonnaise, mustard and agave syrup in a separate bowl. Then add the sauce to the pan, along with the penne and tofu. Stir well and serve.

Trattoria Pasta Salad with White Beans

Another delicious salad from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction.

SERVES 6 • ACTIVE TIME: 20 MINUTES • TOTAL TIME: 30 MINUTES

PER SERVING

(

Calories: 290

Calories from fat: 45

Total fat: 5 g

Saturated fat: 0 g

Trans fat: 0 g

Total carb: 52 g

Fiber: 8 g

Sugars: 6 g

Protein: 10 g

Cholesterol: 0 mg

Sodium: 480 mg

Vitamin A: 15%

Vitamin C: 35%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 15%

Option: ½ cup of

toasted walnuts adds

65 calories, 6 grams

of fat, 0.5 grams of

saturated fat, and

1 gram of fiber.

⅙ RECIPE):

F

reunions—this salad is where it’s at! No mayo required. The Sun-dried

Tomato-Walnut Dressing gives up plenty of flavor, beans keep you stuffed,

and arugula gives you that trattoria feel. So tell Aunt Gertrude she’s fired,

but could she get you some freshly ground black pepper before she

leaves? You can use jarred roasted red peppers or one red bell pepper

you roast yourself.

8 ounces shell-shaped brown rice pasta

1 (15-ounce) can great northern beans, drained and rinsed

4 cups arugula

1 small red onion, sliced thinly

½ cup chopped roasted red pepper

¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped in half

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 recipe

First, cook the pasta al dente in salted water according to the package

directions. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water, then place in the

fridge to cool completely.

Once the pasta has cooled, toss all the ingredients together in a large

mixing bowl. Keep chilled until ready to eat.

orget that tired old pasta salad Aunt Gertrude brings to the familySun-dried Tomato-Walnut Dressing (recipe follows)

TIP

If it works out for your personal food plan for the day, throw ½ cup

of toasted walnut halves into the mix.

* I added a sprinkling of Italian herb mix which went lovely

Sun-dried Tomato-Walnut Dressing

SERVES 6 • ACTIVE TIME: 10 MINUTES • TOTAL TIME: 20 MINUTES

 

I

usually packed in lots of oil. This dressing depends on walnuts instead of

oil, and loose sun-dried tomatoes that are only packed in, well, air!

¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes (bought in dried form, not packed

in oil) (I've found a brand that comes in a jar and are moist but are not in oil)

3 tablespoons walnuts

½ teaspoon fennel seeds

2 tablespoons chopped shallot

¾ cup water

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoons Dijon mustard

¾ teaspoon salt

A few pinches of freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon dried marjoram

First, rehydrate the tomatoes. Place them in a bowl and submerge in warm

water. Let them soak for about 15 minutes, then drain.

Meanwhile, toast the walnuts. Preheat a small, heavy-bottomed pan over

medium heat. Toss in the walnuts and toast them, stirring often, for about 7

minutes. They should be varying shades oftoasty brown, and smell

walnutty. Transfer immediately to a food processor.

Pulse the walnuts and fennel seeds to chop finely. Add the remaining

ingredients, except for the marjoram, and puree until relatively smooth. Add

the marjoram and pulse a few times to get it integrated. Keep the dressing

refrigerated in a tightly sealed container for up to 5 days until ready to use.love the zesty flavor of sun-dried tomatoes but don’t love that they are



Avocado Pesto Pasta

Whenever I make pesto, I always add avocado. Avocado makes such a fantastic, quick and creamy sauce. This recipe is super quick, you can have it ready in about 15 minutes but at the same time it provides a filling meal. Try using another nut like almonds if you don't have any pine-nuts, although you will probably have to grind them up first before adding the other ingredients as they are not as soft. Usually when I make this recipe I don't bother with measurements but here is the recipe I got the original idea from.

serves 6

• 1 pound dried linguini
• 1 bunch basil leaves (about 2½ ounces)
• ½ cup pine nuts
• 2 ripe avocados, pitted and peeled
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about ½ of a lemon)
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ cup olive oil
• Salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• ¼ cup chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)

1. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add pasta and cook to package directions. While pasta cooks, in a food processor, blend basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Drain pasta. In a large serving bowl, toss pesto with hot, freshly cooked pasta and garnish each serving with a basil leaf. For an extra touch of color and flavor, top pasta with sundried tomatoes.

   
   

   Notes: 
   
   
   A delicious variation is to make this with pistachios instead of pine nuts! Definitely worth the extra effort of shelling them 

   - When making this myself I leave out the oil - the avocado and pine nuts have enough oil and you can instead add a little water if needed 

   - I will usualy use 1 small avocado or 1/2 avocado with 1/4 cup pine nuts for one person and about 1/2 lemon 

   - will still use a bunch of basil. So my own version may come out more lemony and creamy but it is something that is very easy to adjust to individual tastes.