Lasagne

The trick of having a good lasagne is a creamy bechamel sauce...i'm suck at doing that...this time round too by the Masterchef came to the rescue... haha... to make it quick, i used readymade pasta sauce to make the filling and prepared it earlier..

Lasagne sheets (ready to cook)
1 jar readymade pasta sauce (i used prego)
minced meat
fresh white/swiss mushroom, sliced
carrot, chopped
celery stick, chopped
onion, chopped
garlic, chopped
fresh oregano, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

cheddar, parmesan and mozzarella cheese, grated

for bechamel sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 1/4cups milk
salt and pepper
grated nutmeg

• Prepare the filling. Heat oil in pan. fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add in minced meat and fry until brown.
• Add in carrot, mushroom and celery and fry till soft. 
• pour in the pasta sauce, mix well. add in the oregano, season with salt and pepper.
• set aside
• Prepare the bechamel sauce. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour. Whisk to combine.
• Add milk, continue to whisk until mixture comes to boil. add nutmeg, season with salt and pepper. reduce heat to low and simmer. stir frequently until mixture thickens.
• now assemble your lasagne: filling, lasagne sheet, bechamel sauce, grated cheese. repeat until 3 layers.
• bake in preheated oven 180 degrees celcius for 40 min until cheese bubbling hot and turns golden.

Minestrone soup

out of idea what to cook for the family...? this one-dish meal saved our day... we love soup very much and i ditched in some vegetables (whatever available) and pasta to complete it... adapted from Jamie Oliver's ...

1 tablespoon olive oil 
minced chicken
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped 
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped 
2 carrots, washed and chopped 
2 sticks celery, chopped
½ teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf 
1 can chopped plum tomatoes 
1 large potato, scrubbed and diced 
4 cups chicken stock
Large handful spinach, stalks removed, chopped
½ cup mixed small pasta shapes 
1/8 teaspoon sea salt 
large pinch freshly ground black pepper 

• Heat a large pot over a medium heat and add a lug of olive oil. Throw in the minced chicken and fry it gently until it starts to turn brown and smell fantastic. Add the garlic, onion, carrots, celery, oregano and bay leaf and cook slowly for about 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the tomatoes, potato and chicken stock, then cover with a lid and bring everything slowly to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, then check (with the tip of a paring knife) that the potato is soft and cooked through.
• After that, add the kale and pasta, and cook for 10 more minutes, until the pasta is cooked. If the soup is too thick for you after cooking the pasta, thin it with a little more broth or water.
• Finish by seasoning with a little salt and black pepper.

I did not mix the pasta in the soup, rather boiled it separately..

Seafood Olio Aglio

i love the garlic taste and smell in olio aglio...lots of garlic, and i mean you need lots of garlic to make this... ;)

here's the recipe (modified from noobcook.com)... (i used half packet of spaghetti to get this amount of serving)

• half packet of pasta (250g)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 40g butter divided
• 50g achovies fillet in olive oil or you can use 1/2 achovies cube (kiub ikan bilis)
• 10 to 12 large prawns shells off and deveined
• 10 cloves garlic peeled and sliced or roughly chopped (not too finely)
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• a bunch of Italian flat-leaf parsley finely chopped
•  salt to taste
• freshly cracked black pepper to taste
*** you can add squid as well with the prawns and i added some strips of sun-dried tomatoes as well.. yummy!!

1. Bring a pot of water with 1 tbsp sea salt to a boil.  Cook pasta according until al dente(usually 2-3 mins minus recommended cooking time for spaghetti). Drain and set aside the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water.
2. Heat half the butter in a sauce pan. Cook the prawns on both sides and set aside.
3. Add olive oil to the sauce pan with the achovies fillet/cube. When the oil is heated, add garlic and chilli. Saute until the garlic turns light brown.
4. Turn off the stove. The garlic will continue cooking in the hot oil on its own for a few more seconds in the hot oil, until they turn a lovely golden brown.
5. Add cooked pasta, cooked prawns, about 2 tbsp reserved pasta water, chopped parsley and remaining butter (cubed) to the garlic & oil mixture. Stir to coat all the ingredients evenly. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Swedish meatballs

tastes like ikea's meatballs..have been ages since i had ikea's meatballs..the last time was almost 2 years ago when i was heavily pregnant with iyad...now i can make my own ikea's meatballs... yeay!

2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, torn
1/4 cup milk
1 onion, grated
500g mince beef
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups beef stock

1/4 cup thickened cream

• place bread in large bowl. add milk. stand for 5 min. 
• add onion, mince beef, egg, spices
• season with salt and pepper. mix to combine
• roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. place on to a plate
• heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. cook meatballs, turning, for 4-5 min or until browned or cooked through. using a slotted spoon, transfer to plate
• add flour to pan. cook, stirring for 1 min or until bubbling.
• gradually stir in stock and cream. bring to boil
• return meatballs to pan. reduce heat to medium. simmer for 10 min or until meatballs are cooked through and sauce thickened
• serve with crusted bread or as in ikea - with fries and cranberry sauce

Italian meatballs

we love spaghetti and meatballs... i made them in advanced and store them in freezer, take them out to thaw then cook it... can't find the photo of the dish though...will put it up once i cook this dish again..

2 slices of white bread, crusts removed, torn
1/2 cup milk
1 onion, grated
500g mince beef
1/3 cup finely chopped basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp olive oil
500g jar tomato pasta sauce
cooked pasta to serve

• place bread in large bowl. add milk. stand for 5 min. 
• add onion, mince beef, egg, basil, cheese and half of parsley
• season with salt and pepper. mix to combine
• roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls. place on to a plate
• heat oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. cook meatballs, turning, for 5-7 min or until browned or cooked through
• add pasta sauce. bring to boil. reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 2-3 min.
• sprinkle with remaining parsley. serve with pasta

Marbled Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

heavenly chocolate and cheesy mix.. love it!

chocolate mix:
175g butter plus extra for greasing
3 tbsp cocoa powder
200g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
125g plain flour

cheesecake mix:
250g ricotta cheese
40g caster sugar
1 egg, beaten

• preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. grease and line a 11x7 inch or 10x10 inch tin
• melt the butter in a medium saucepan, remove from heat and stir in the cocoa and sugar.
• beat in the eggs, then add the flur and stir to mix evenly. pour into prepared tin
• for the cheesecake mix, beat together the ricotta, sugar and egg. then drop teaspoonfuls of the mixture over the chocolate mixture. use a palette knife to swirl the 2 mixtures together lightly
• bake in the oven for 40-45 min until just firm to touch.
• cool in the tin then cut into squares

Mocchachino Brownies

Am i making a comeback..? haha... i'm baking this special brownies for a special friendand yes my hands itch to bake...

this is a simple and yummy brownies to make..loaded with chocolates with a tinge of coffee..i love it so much...

this recipe is for 2 tray of 9x9 inch so if you only need 1 tray, half the recipe... but you will regret for halving the recipe..haha..

250g butter
230g dark chocolate
2 tbsp coffee
6 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups caster sugar
2 cups flour
1 cup chocolate chip
1 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped

• heat oven 180 degrees celcius. line the baking pan with butter and baking paper
• heat butter, dark chocolate and coffee on medium heat in a saucepan until just melted. remove from heat and let cool slightly
• add in eggs and sugar to the mixture. then fold in the flour, chocolate chip and walnuts. mix well.
• transfer the mixture into the baking pan.
• bake for about 35-40 min until spring to touch and toothpick comes clean
• let cool before cutting into squares