Pasta Made Easy

Do you like pasta?

I love pasta. My family loves pasta. Plus, it is so simple to prepare, especially for a lousy (and lazy) cook like me. I take great advantage of my kids...the fact that they are not fussy eaters, I could feed them with pasta for lunch or dinner, anytime of the week. Sometimes it could be a 'lavish' seafood marinara pasta for dinner, but most of the time, I serve them fusilli with meatballs in tomato sauce, or a simple plate of angel hair with bolognese sauce.

My boys' favourite pasta meal got to be the chicken and mushroom spaghetti in cream sauce.


I have cooked this pasta dish using various methods. I have to confess that during those early days when I first started cooking for my family, I used canned mushroom soup as sauce ;) It was much later that I learned from some cookbook the proper way to make the white sauce...stir fry butter with some flour, before adding milk or cream. However, I could never achieve a consistent taste. Sometimes the sauce would be way too thick (and 'floury') and most of the time I had problem trying to dissolve the lumps of butter and flour mixture with the milk. If the sauce ended up too thin, I even tried adding cheese slices to thicken it! The best method I have since adopted is to simply cook the sauce using just dairy cream. Depending on what's available, I may use heavy or thickened cream which will yield a very creamy and rich sauce, but I prefer single cream (eg Nestle pouring cream) which is lighter or rather, closer to our Asian palate.



Besides the cream, the other important ingredient for this dish has to be the mushrooms. There is a vast difference between canned mushrooms and fresh button mushrooms. I would only prepare this dish when I have fresh mushrooms. Although I prefer the more earthy and rich flavour of brown button mushrooms, white button mushrooms are just as great. I have also experimented using a mixture of button mushrooms and fresh shiitake.

Most cream sauce recipes would only require salt and pepper as seasoning. I am not sure whether it is due to our Chinese way of cooking, I will also add light soya sauce. I know, it sounds like a weird combination, using soya sauce in a western dish. But I thoroughly enjoy that split seconds of my life, when my kitchen is perfumed with this savory, earthy aroma that is released the moment soya sauce hit the pan of sizzling mushrooms. I am also convinced that soya sauce will bring out the rich flavours or umami of the mushrooms. Yes, mushrooms are capable of delivering plenty of umami, or so called the 5th taste. So that is why, I can omit the chicken in this dish but not the mushrooms.

There is no surprise, with a rather sparse pantry, I am still able to whip up this simple everyday meal thousands of miles away from home. So here it is, my easy pasta recipe from this tiny kitchen in Beijing to yours. Bon Appetite!

Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Spaghetti

Ingredients
(serves 3)

150 ~ 200g spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ~ 3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 chicken thigh, skinless, debone, cut into bite size
200g fresh brown button mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 tablespoon light soya sauce
1 cup (250ml) whipping cream (dairy)
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil (I use only about 1 teaspoon for 3 ~ 4 ltrs of water). Add pasta and cook for about 8 ~ 10 minutes (or according to the directions on the package) until al dente. Stir occasionally to ensure even cooking and to prevent it from sticking. Check occasionally to see if it's done.

2. While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, stir fry for a few seconds. Add chicken and stir fry until no longer pink. Add mushrooms to the pan, stir in soya sauce and saute till mushrooms become soft, about 1 ~ 2 mins. Gradually stir in cream. Simmer for about 5 mins, until sauce is slightly thickened and the chicken is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper.

3. By now the pasta should be ready. Drain the pasta. Immediately toss cooked pasta until evenly coated with the chicken and mushroom mixture (add 1 ~ 2 tablespoons of pasta water if the mixture appears too thick). Serve immediately, with a sprinkle of freshly grounded black pepper.

One-Dish Wonder

The beauty of a 1-dish meal...


easy to prepare, and super-easy to clean up!


I am blessed with non-fussy eaters at home, they eat whatever meals I lay on the dining table, except for the occasional groans whenever I serve congee or porridge for lunch. I am not shy to say that I take advantage of those forgiving taste buds. Whenever possible, I'll go for simple dinners which need minimum preparation...which also means minimum skills required. That's probably why my culinary skill never seems to improve over the years ^_^


Baked rice happens to be one of our favourite 1-dish meals. However, I try not to turn it into a regular item in our dinner menu. I believe this dish is quite fattening...with the cream and cheese that goes into it!


We had this seafood baked rice the other night. Loaded with fresh prawns, lala (clams), sotong (squids) and fish fillet. I couldn't get salmon, so I had to settle for batang (Spanish Mackerel).


This 1-dish meal did a great job of uniting the savoury flavours of the various seafood ingredients. The rice was full of flavour after soaking up all the natural sweetness from the prawns and clams. It will certainly quench any seafood lover’s appetite...and of course, I love seafood ;')


Seafood Baked Rice

Ingredients
(serves 4)

2 cups** uncooked rice
200g prawns, with shells
100g clams
1 squid, cut into thick rings
200g fish fillet, cut into thick slices
some mixed vegetables
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
1/2 cup (125ml) water
salt and pepper
some grated mozzarella cheese


Method:

1. Wash and cook rice with rice cooker.
2. Wash and prepare prawns, clams, squid and fish slices.
3. Heat up a large, deep pan, with some cooking oil. Stir fry minced garlic and add in the seafood ingredients. Add in the mixed vegetables. (Do not cook the seafood till done as it will continue to cook in the oven.)
4. Add in the cream, stir well. Add in water and bring to a boil. (Note, always add cream BEFORE water, otherwise the mixture may not be smooth.)
5. Add in the cooked rice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and let it cook for 1 to 2 mins or until the sauce is almost fully absorbed by the rice.
6. Place rice into a heatproof baking dish. Sprinkle with grated cheese.
7. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 220 degC, till the cheese turns golden brown. Sprinkle with some dried parsley. Serve immediately.
   Note: ** refers to the rice cup that comes with the rice cooker.
   
   Recipe source: adapted from 懒人焗烤