Asian Pasta

My sister was leaving for Mumbai.... Thought of taking her out for a nice dinner...... No surprise, towards the evening, packing wasn't over.... so we dropped the idea of the dinner... I thought let me make something special at home....

She loves Olives.... had this recipe sitting in my head for a while... On the way back from work, stopped to buy the stuff ... [Imagine... me going vegetable shopping.... sister: you'd have better like what's going to be made.. ;-) ]

Bua was also at home.... she was just about to leave in a bit.... When she saw the preparation, she stayed back to checkout my experiment......

Thankfully everyone enjoyed it......

Ingredients:

500 Gms Penne or Tagliatelle

3 Table Spoons Olive Oil [For Stir-Frying Vegetables]

60 gms each of diced Zuchinni, Mushrooms, Baby Corn, Red and Yellow Bell Peppers, Green Onions (The Green Parts separated from the bulb), Olives [green or black which ever you prefer, or maybe both if you like, my sister love them so I loaded them in]

1 pod chopped Garlic

150ml Cream

10gms Thai Red Curry Paste

Salt and White Pepper to Taste

Pine Nuts for Topping

Shredded cheese for Garnish

10gms Fresh Basil for Garnish

5gms Oregano or Rosemary for Garnish

Chilli Flakes for Garnish

Dash of salted butter

Method:

1. Blanch babycorn in a separate bowl. Keep aside.
2. Boil pasta in hot water with 2 table spoons of oil and 4 table spoons of salt. When soft, remove from stove and stain. Allow to cool in a strainer. When slightly cool, rub some olive oil in your palms and lightly grease the pasta so that it doesn’t stick after cooling.
3. Heat olive oil in a pan.
4. Stir in the garlic, cook till golden brown.
5. Add the diced onion bulbs, cook till just about crunchy, not very brown.
6. Add the peppers and Zuchinni, cook till just about crunchy
7. Donot over cook the vegetables or cover them. Just stir fry. Covering will make it lose the amazing colour.
8. In a separate sauce pan, add a dash of salted butter and put in the mushrooms, cook till the water has evaporated. [ Mom’s Special Tip: sprinkle some pepper, the mushrooms get a nice brown color instead of remaining pale white J ] Keep aside.
9. Use the same pan to put in the cream and add the red thai curry paste. Cook for a 1-2 minutes and adjust the seasoning as per taste.
10. Add the cream mixture to the stir-fry vegetables. Stir and remove from heat.
11. Sprinkle over with Pine Nuts, Shredded cheese, Chilli Flakes, Fresh Basil and Oregano or Rosemary for Garnish.

Serve with any interesting bread. [ I used garlic bread.]