Pasta Stuffed Calzone

Has it been forever? It has!
Let me wake up from my slumber and give you a sneak peek into my life this past year. It's not that I have not been busy. I sewed a bunch of clothes, read a few books(follow me on goodreads) and tried many a marvellous recipes. But as usual I have been too lazy to blog! Sorry about that!

I have also taken up a new hobby - gardening. Our terrace garden is looking damn neat! May be I will put up a full post on my gardening adventures.

Apart from that here is something we tried today morning for breakfast - Pasta stuffed Calzone.
This recipe makes about 10 calzones.

Dough

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
6 tspn sugar
1 tspn salt
1 tbspn dry active yeast
Warm water to knead

In some luke warm (not hot!) water add 2 teaspoons of sugar and dissolve. Add the yeast to this mixture and set aside for 2 minutes. The yeast with activate and bubble. Add the remaining sugar, salt and oil to the flour. Make a well in the center of the  flour mixture and add the yeast slurry. Knead with warm water to make a soft dough. Knead well for at least 10 minutes to activate the gluten in the dough. The dough should be soft and should spring back if touched. Set aside this dough with a wet kitchen towel on top for about 1 hour in a draft free warm place. Let the dough proof till it doubles in size.

Pasta Stuffing

2 tbspn extra virgin olive oil
10 cloves of garlic
1 large onion
1 green capsicum
4 tomatoes pureed
1 tspn oregano
1 tspn chilli flakes
1 tspn sugar
1 tbspn tomato ketchup
salt to taste
1/2 cup boiled pasta(I used macaroni)
few slices of black olives

Heat the olive oil in a pan, add the finely chopped garlic. Purée the onion and capsicum and add it to the pan. Let it cook out for 5 minutes. Add the purée of tomatoes, cover and cook till most of the water evaporates. Add a dash of oregano, chilli flakes, sugar, salt. Add a little bit of ketchup to balance out the taste. This sauce is my default marinara that I use on my pizza's.
Add sliced olives and cooked pasta to the sauce and keep aside.

Caramelized Onion and Capsicum

1 tspn extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion
1 red capsicum
1 yellow capsicum
1 tspn sugar
salt to taste

Cut the onion and capsicum into thin slivers. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion. Add some sugar and let it caramelize. Add the capsicums and caramelize till slightly brown. Add a pinch of salt to taste.

Other Stuffing Ingredients

Mozzarella cheese
Basil leaves

Assembly

Image Source - thekitchn.com

Take a small ball of dough and roll it into a circular form(like chapati). Add the pasta stuffing to one side of the semi circle. Add the caramelized onion and capsicum. Add some mozzarella cheese and a few leaves of basil. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Now flip over the other half of the semi circle over this half with stuffing into a half moon shape( just like karanji or gunjiya). Crimp the edges of the calzone to shut them well.

Place them on an oiled baking tray and let them proof for another 15 minutes.
Drizzle some olive oil on top.

Preheat oven to 200C and place them to bake for about 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Coorgi Delights

Coorg is my absolutely favourite vacation destination. I am a jungle/mountain kind of person and this spot literally hits the spot!
Its green and untouched. Its full of coffee estates and people living lives I wish I was living! In a farm house tucked far away in a remote corner of the planet. Coorgi people are very warm and have a very rich culture. They are a warrior race (a lot of them still serve in the armed forces) and are proud of their unique heritage. Their food is divine. Here are a couple of recipes I learnt in 2009 during our maiden trip to Madikeri.

The beautiful winding roads

Paputtu

This is a breakfast idli type bread. Its slightly sweet and sumptuous.

Ingredients -
Idli rava - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste
Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup
Cardamom seeds - 2-3 pods

Procedure -
If you don't have the pre-made idli rava, one can process 1 cup dry rice in a mixer to get the rava (think phirni type rice).
Wash idli rava, soak in 1 cup water for 1/2 hour. Mix the milk, coconut, sugar, salt and powdered cardamom seeds.
Pour the batter in an oiled thali or flat bottom plate with sides. Paputtu is shaped like a pie. Steam for 25 to 30 mins.

Kooru Curry

I am calling this kooru curry, but kooru is rajma. I am using lobhiya here. One can also use butter beans.

Ingredients -
Lobhiya - 2 cups soaked overnight and pressure cooked for about 20-25 mins
Onion - 1 medium finely chopped

For seasoning -
Oil - 1 tspn (We use a non stick hence the less oil, increase if required)
Rai - 1 tspn
Urad dal - 1 tspn
Curry leaves - 4-5

For paste -
Coriander seeds - 2 tspn
Coconut - 1/2 cup grated
Dry red chillies - 3-4
Garlic pods - 3-4
Black pepper - 1 tspn
Jeera - 1/2 tspn

Turmeric powder
Tamarind to taste
Jaggery to taste
Salt to taste

Procedure -


Heat oil in a pan, add rai, urad dal, curry leaves and chopped onion. Fry till onions are translucent. Add cooked beans, salt and turmeric powder.
Grind the ingredients mentioned under paste. Add this paste to the cooking pan. Add water to make a gravy. Boil till ground paste is cooked. Balance out with a bit of tamarind and jaggery to taste.

This is a popular meal in the household. Ajay loves the curry, Adrika loves the paputtu!

Coorg is indeed the Scotland of India. Its a breath-taking place where one can see a million fireflies dance about at night. It is one of those hidden gems. Here is to many more holidays in paradise.

Homemade Swiss Style Muesli

Finally got on to making my own muesli at home. I love muesli, its truly my go to breakfast.

Here is the recipe that makes about 400 gms or so of muesli -

Ingredients:-
Oatmeal - 3 cups
Flaked or chopped almonds - 30 odd almonds
Coarse dried fruit mix - 1 cup
Honey - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 30 odd

Procedure:-
For the coarse dried fruit mix, coarsely chop/grind pistachios(20 odd), cashew(20 odd), cardamom (10 pods), peppercorns(5-6 or omit altogether).
Mix all of the above mentioned ingredients except raisins in a bowl.
Spread it out on a baking tray.
Preheat oven at 180C for 10 mins, bake the oatmeal mix for 20-25 mins at 180C(fan aided). In the middle toss it about a bit in the oven to ensure even roasting. Keep checking that it is not burning towards the end.
After baking, let it cool. Add raisins.

Optionals:-
There are so many other optional items that can be added to this mix - flaxseed, sunflower/pumpkin seeds, dates, dried apricots or figs. Let your imagination set the limits.

It tastes divine with cold milk or cold yoghurt with added fresh fruit. There is no added sugar. Its a power packed snack. Enjoy!