Why Warm Winter Spaghetti is all you need sometimes…

Winter Spaghetti with Cauliflower, Green Beans, Capsicum, Tomatoes n Parmesan

After a gap of the whole month of February and 20 days of March here I come back, in fact I never have been away,  I used to come n look around but I could never posted  somehow. To tell you I was away from my home in a different city for a new project which is not related to food, so there were long journeys across India  and some of it took as long as 32 hours! I missed all of you so much, even though we are not directly connected, somehow we are connected mentally for the love of food n life and I missed all of that of being with you while I was not here.

                        Spaghetti is close to my heart, not that it has always been. In fact when I first started eating it I quite disliked it, I found it hard n chewy, around that time I was a fan of noodles which are relatively softer , I loved stir-fried noodles that time, I still do. When I started cooking spaghetti initially my disappointment stayed for a couple of trials, the flavors I was putting into it were not attracting me but as I went on cooking it, I was slowly getting there. There is this time period when I realized I’m cooking it right and I began to like it, that was time when the love developed and the spaghetti opened itself to me. It is like the spiral of the spaghetti was a puzzle and when you finally solve it you get to the real flavors where you can only love it. So here is the truth be told: I Love Spaghetti.

                                                                  This recipe that I cooked  just before my journey begun is in fact a true winter recipe, because not just it was made in the winter, it was made with cauliflower, green beans, capsicum which comes in abundance in the winter in my place. When I finally bite into it, I said ‘Ah! Man’ my mind just sang a song, the flavors of the cauliflower, green beans, onions, Parmesan all coming together, the texture of the veggies, the depth of flavors, it was a little heaven for me. This is what good food does to you, it can make you happy n smiling at toughest times, it can make you friends with complete strangers, it can make you feel at home when you are thousands of miles away, in a long tiring tough journey it can make you feel everything is going to be all right.

So now I will present you the recipe straight away! Cook it and discover it!

For The Recipe:

Spaghetti – 150 gm

Cauliflower florets -2/3 medium florets, cut into 1 inch sized thin sizes

Green Beans – 50 gm, chopped diagonally into 2 inch sizes

Onion – Half a medium onion, sliced into half moons

Green Capsicum – Half a medium capsicum, cut into thin slices of 2 inch lengths

Tomato – 1 and half of a medium tomato, chopped

Coriander leaves – 2 tbsp chopped

Garlic – 1 clove, chopped + 1 small clove or ½ a small clove made into a paste

Parmesan cheese -2 tbsp grated

Freshly crushed black pepper-1/2 tsp

Red Chili Powder- a pinch or ¼ tsp

Vegetable oil/olive oil -2 tbsp

Butter – a small blob

Salt to taste

Pink rock salt/Kala Namak – a pinch

Sugar – a pinch

1.  Let’s begin by making the spaghetti, heat 5/6 cups of water in a large bowl, add good amount of salt in it until you can taste the water has got enough salty, when the water comes to a vigorous boil put the spaghetti in and cook it for the amount of time mentioned in the packet or the way you like. When the spaghetti is done, take the spaghetti out n keep some of the water of the spaghetti.

2. While the spaghetti is getting ready, let’s prepare the beans, take a pan and add a blob of butter and 3 tbsp of water in it and add the beans, put the pan on a low heat, cover it. Give it 7/10 minutes, check in between and toss the beans around; when the water dries up add some more water. Take the beans out with any remaining water into a bowl after 7/10 minutes.

3. In the same pan heat the olive oil/vegetable oil. Once the oil is moderately hot add the sliced cauliflower, they will begin to sizzle, keep the heat on medium flame, the cauliflower should start to get slight brown all over, stir them in between. Because we have cut the cauliflower quite thinly it won’t much time to get cooked, once they are slightly brown add the chopped garlic to the oil, give them 2 minutes, then add the onions n give them a mix. Give them 2 minutes, after that add the capsicum slices n give them 5-7 minutes, stir in between. As the cauliflower gets more brown and the onions softens, so will the capsicum it is time to add the chopped tomatoes. Add a tiny pinch of sugar n mix, put the flame to high now and add salt, add half of the fresh coriander leaves, a pinch of black pepper and give everything a good stir. Keep the flame high for 1 minute, then reduce it a low flame and give the whole thing about 7-9 minutes. Stir in between and soon the tomatoes will lose their form and become like a sauce, add the pinch of pink rock salt/kala namak, red chili powder n mix, taste n adjust the salt. At the end of 7/9 minutes when the tomatoes have softened add the prepared beans, then the spaghetti and the 1 tbsp or 2 of the spaghetti water, mix well, when the water dries up a little bit add the small amount of garlic paste that you prepared from a tiny garlic n mix well, add the Parmesan, the remaining black pepper n toss.  And hey! Our spaghetti is done! Sprinkle the remaining fresh coriander leaves.

4. Serve the spaghetti in plates; sprinkle some Parmesan over it if you like more n fresh coriander leaves. Now tell me it is looking amazing right? I know, I know. Now dig in

Bon Appétit.