Mushroom Spinach Pizza Topping

Very basic recipe for pizza topping.
Because, missing the woodcutter's pizza from our regular pizza delivery in this lock-down.
If not as topping, this can certainly be served as a side to any main course.

This was for 6 regular, ready- made pizza bread available in Indian grocery stores. We used home made pizza sauce. Will post that recipe another time.

4- 5 large garlic pods,  slivered
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 bunch spinach. torn into medium size leaves, blanched
2 packets mushrooms, chopped
Grated cheese, as required. Any cheese of your choice. I have used Go Cheese Colby
2 tsp Olive oil

Heat oil in a pan and saute the garlic for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms and cook till the water it leaves dries out. Add a pinch of salt and cook further til it's totally dried out again. Bring thee pan off the heat and stir in the blanched spinach and onions. Topping ready for pizza. Add cheese as required. We made a vegan version without cheese for dad.

Spaghetti in Mung (green gram) sauce

2 cups Mung, soaked overnight
3 small onions, chopped
3 tbsp crushed garlic
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup milk
2 bay leaves
100 gm cottage cheese (optional)
salt, pepper, mixed herbs, as per taste
Olive oil to cook
300 gm spaghetti, boiled

In a pressure cooker boil the mung with one onion, tsp garlic, and some salt till 4 whistles. Once cool, blend it into a paste.

Heat oil in a non- stick pan. Add the bay leaves, and rest of the garlic and onions. Saute till the onions turn white. Add in the tomatoes and cook till soft. Add salt, pepper, mixed herbs, followed by the mung paste.

Mixed in the crumbled cottage cheese. On a high flame, keep adding the milk (cream can also be used) till a smooth paste.
Mix in the pasta, serve with some olive oil and cheese.

Some hacks to modify the recipe.
1. Mushroom / boiled chicken strips can be cooked in garlic butter and tossed in the sauce before adding the spaghetti.
2. Any other pasta can also be used.
3. To make it spicy, chopped dry Kashmiri chili can be added in the seasoning.

Vegetable Cutlets

500 gm boiled potatoes
200 gm chopped onions
200 gm chopped beans
200 gm chopped carrots
Salt, mango powder, red chilly powder, crushed black pepper. As per taste.
5-6 coriander leaves stems, cleaned.

Saute onions on a low flame for about 5-7 minutes or till it turns white. Add in the carrots and beans with a little salt. Cook till the veggies are soft and the water has dried out.

Mash the boiled potatoes, add the cooked ingredients with the remaining masalas, and shape them in cylinders. Shallow fry on a heavy non-stick pan.
We had this as a side with eggs and sausages. But can be a great meal by itself with some soup to start with.

Broccoli Parathas. All the way from LA. :)

This was sent to me by my cousin Aarty in LA. She found the recipe online & modified it. Her husband & baby girl aren't fussy eaters, but like all things nice. A hit with them is worth us sharing. Spreading the joy. Also, do check her blog. Beautiful insights on a new mothers journey: 

http://aartypunjabi.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/what-is-the-deal-with-forgiveness/

Broccoli Paratha

I am always looking for ways to add greens in my toddlers diets. Since she loves paratha’s and I had a big bag of broccoli lying at home, I tried this recipe out. It was a success as both my 18 month old and the hubby loved it.

Ingriedients

 Brocolli – 2 crowns or 5 cups

 Corriander powder – 1 tsp

 Cumin powder – ½ tspn

 Dry Mango Powder (Aamchur) – ½ tspn

 Chaat masala – ½ tspn

 Green Chilli – ½ piece or to taste (Optional)

 Salt – To taste

 Oil – 1 tspn

Dough

Whole Whear flour -2.5 cups

Water – just enough to dough

Oil – 1 tspn

Procedure

For the Dough

Knead the flour with water to form a soft and pliable dough. Spread oil over the dough and store in an air tight container for 20 minutes or until ready to cook.

For the stuffing

Grate the broccoli  or finely chop it in the food processor.  

Chop green chilies very finely.

In a pan, heat oil, once oil is hot add the broccoli and green chillies if using any. Add the dry masalas. Adjust masalas accordingly to make sure that the taste of all the masalas are not overbearing the broccoli.  Adjust accordingly. Stir for 2-3 minutes and take it out to cool.