Chicken Carbonara in Red Sauce

Ingredients

Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 diced bacon

1 cup diced chicken breast

1 cup mixed vegetables (carrots, green peas, corn)

1 cup fresh tomatoes (diced)

1 cup grated cheese

1 cup milk (regular, skimmed - any will do)

1 can (751g or 10LB) tomato and herbs sauce (del monte)

Dash of black pepper

Dash of basil

Dash of oregano

Dash of parsley

Dash of coriander 

Dash of Tabasco hot sauce 

Pasta 

2 cups water 

1 tbsp oil (regular oil)

Dash of salt

Dash of thyme

Garnish (optional)

Parmesan cheese 

Tarragon

Cucumber 

Olives (pitted)

1. Heat olive oil - add garlic and onions - dash of black pepper, basil and oregano. Sautée.

2. When onions are slightly soft - add chicken and bacon. Sautée for 5 minutes. Add mixed vegetables. Mix and let it cook. 

3. When chicken is white - add cheese and milk. Simmer for 5 minutes. 

4. Add dash of tabasco hot sauce and pour in tomatoes. Mix. Pour in tomato sauce. Mix and simmer for 5 minutes as seen on the photo below.

5. Add in parsley and coriander.

Pasta 

1. Bring two cups of water to boil. Add regular oil and dash of salt. 

2. Once water is boiled. Add pasta and simmer for 10 minutes with regular stirring.

3. Once pasta is cook - drain and add a dash of thyme. Mix and let it cool.

Finish product 

I love pasta and I'm proud to say that it's one of my specialty - be it beef, chicken or seafoods - you can count that I make the yummiest one :)

Also, it's my first time to use cucumber as garnish and surprisingly it blended well with the sauce and pasta. And must you wonder why I'm using the twisted pasta - I prefer this over the regular ones. It's easier to dress up and present :) 

PS for boiling the pasta - I suggest that you make it to 2 tbsp of oil instead of just one to make it more flexible after draining :)

Broken Beef Lasagna

I have been wanting to make a lasagna but I was always afraid to try it out until my Aunt from Sweden came for a visit and prepared one for her boyfriend. And last Thursday, my friends came over and I made one - it was good but I think it lacked sauce on the top most layer thus it came off a little dry (not sure if this should be the term but yeah, it looked like it).

So, I decided to recreate it earlier :)

Ingredients

2can Large Tomato Sauce /Spaghetti Sauce

1pack Lasagna Pasta

1pack All Purpose Cream

1can Sliced Mushrooms

3cups Ground Beef

2cups Regular Cheese (grated)

1/2cup Parmesan Cheese

2tbsp Butter

Gloves of Garlic (thinly chopped)

Onions (thinly cubes)

Tomatoes (cubes, optional)

A Pack of Singles Cheese (optional)

A Dash of Black Pepper

A Dash of Basil

A Dash of Oregano

A Dash of Thyme

Garnish (OPTIONAL)

Parsley

Olives

Blue Cheese

In making the sauce, it is the same procedure as making a spaghetti sauce that's why I didn't make a photo of it but here are the steps:

1. Sautee Garlic and Onions with Butter until lightly brown.

2. Add Beef, A Dash of Black Pepper, A Dash of Oregano, A Dash of Basil. Mix until Beef is Brown. Add Mushrooms.

3. Add in Grated Cheese. Add All Purpose Cream. Mix until Cheese melts.

4. Add in Tomatoes and simmer until tomatoes are soft.

5. Add Tomato Sauce. Stir and Mix. Simmer for 6 minutes.

6. Set aside.

1. In a bake ware, Layer Lasagna Pasta evenly.

2. Pour in Sauce and spread evenly making sure that the sauce poured isn't too thick. 

3. Topped Sauce with Cheese, A Dash of Thyme and Parmesan Cheese.

4. Repeat procedure 1 to 3 (for this recipe I made it to three layers)

5. Once you've reached top most layer. Cover with enough sauce and top with parmesan cheese.

6. Bake to 360 degrees until pasta is soft.

Finish Product. Garnish with Olives, Blue Cheese and Thyme :)

PS Called it Broken Beef Lasagna because unlike other lasagnas served in restaurant this one was still too hot when I sliced it and it felt like the entire serving broke into pieces but one thing I learn a while back is to let it cool for a bit so that the sauce would sip into the pasta and would make it hold :D

Enjoy cooking and eating! Happy weekend :)

Home Made Baguette Pizza

Ingredients
Baguette Bread
Tomato Sauce
Assorted Meat - Toppings (chicken, beef, shrimps, boiled eggs)
Tomato (sliced, optional)
Onions (thinly sliced)
Mushrooms
Regular Cheese (grated)
Red Bell Peppers (sliced, optional)

*Tomato Sauce
I decided to upgrade my tomato sauce by adding a tablespoon of spicy korean sauce, tomato pesto, dash of black pepper, dash of oregano and dash of basil for that up a notch taste.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Garnish
Olives
Extra Meat Toppings
Blue Cheese
Parsley

1. Slice Baguette breads diagonally. Cut regular slices by the baker into two, as seen on the above photos.

2. Spread tomato sauce evenly on each bread. 

3. Top your favourite toppings on each bread. You could start with cheese then toppings or reverse (toppings then cheese). The choice is limitless.

4. Once done, place each baguette on the Oven Toaster and toast until bread becomes lightly brown.

Finish Product

A closer look.

Had been making this recipe whenever I crave for home made pizza and since I'm trying to clean the fridge on time before Wednesday, I decided to finish off some of the ingredients that I have left. Easy as 1 2 3 recipe. Even children can do this at home. 

The holy week just started yesterday and I hope that everyone will have a blessed week ahead 'til easter sunday :)