Fusilli with Peas and Prawns in Easy Peasy Homemade Tomato Sauce

Lately I have been reading lots of Facebook posts from Viralnova and Buzzfeed. Some of them are simply irritating and clearly a vehicle for ads, but once you've sieved through the garbage, there are some pretty useful tips. Like the one about the 30 foods that you will never have to buy again. I actually have 4 cans of peanuts to be ground into peanut butter, cans of chickpeas for hummus and of course, stacks of canned Italian tomatoes that are waiting to be transformed to pasta sauce. Because pasta sauce is one of the things that will never ever have to be bought again. And it is really a simple, foolproof recipe that never goes wrong. Like, never. Ok I've made this recipe about 5 times now since reading the post and the recipe and it's actually the best tasting tomata pasta sauce I had. And all with only a few ingredients that I have in the fridge. I may sound like I'm raving, but don't diss it til you try it. And if you are too lazy to look for the links, here is my version of the easy peasy homemade tomato sauce recipe.


Ingredients for basic tomato sauce (serves 3-4 pasta portions)

• A can of tomatoes in tomato juice (preferably Italian)
• Half a can of water, swirled around to get all the tomatoes out
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped (or more if you prefer)
• Salt
• Pepper
• A tablespoon of balsamic vinegar,
• A teaspoon of sugar (to cut the acidity)

Question : Now what do we do with all these ingredients?

Answer : Why just dump them in a pot and let them bubble bubble toil and trouble of course. And leave them alone for about 30 minutes or until the sauce has thickened to the tomato sauce in a jar consistency. Feel free to add seasoning to balance the acidity and the taste.

Now that you've mastered the quintessential art of making tomato sauce for pasta from scratch, feel free to add other ingredients for variety. My favourite add-ons are fresh parmesan gratings, creme fraiche and dried Italian herbs. Goes well with most pasta dishes. I've also added dried pepperoni (that's chilli to most of us), olives, fresh basil...the list is endless, you get what I mean? And it's so easy (and a lot cheaper) that I am most certainly never going back to bottled or canned ones.

For this version with fusilli, I added about 30 grams of grated parmesan, 1 tablespoon of creme fraiche and let them simmer together with a handful of peas and prawns.

Then all I had to do while the sauce simmers is to boil the pasta to al dente, save about 3 tablespoons of the pasta water, drain the pasta and mix the sauce in together with the reserved pasta water. And voila! Yummy pasta. Congrats, you have done well :-)

Now pour yourself a glass of your favourite drink, set out the green salad and enjoy your meal!

Oven Braised Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

I went native today. So it's not your fault if you don't recognise what this is - Kohlroulade mit Hackfleisch Füllung und Kartoffelpuree or simply Rolled Cabbage Leaves stuffed with minced meat and served with mashed potatoes. Tastes better than it sounds.. The inspiration came from a shopping mall. I was walking past a shopping mall in Heidelberg, this one known as Galeria Kaufhof, and they have a restaurant on the top floor of the 5 storey building. Quite a nice view from up there serving pastas, salads and soups and other German and European dishes with a corner selling cakes and pastries with coffee. You take what you want, you bring your dish of choice to the cashier and you pay.  Afternoons are really full with the working crowd so that was why I chose to duck the crowds and instead go home and recreate the daily special. And being me, I'm sure I added more herbs and spices than usual. But I am also sure it tasted better! For me at least. So if you want a taste of Germany, Andriana style, and in half an hour, here is the recipe.


Ingredients (for 8 rolls)

For the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

8 large cabbage leaves
300g minced beef or chicken
Dashes of garlic powder,
Rosemary powder
Black pepper,
Paprika powder,
Salt
1 small egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of flour

For the sauce

150ml apple juice
100ml water
2 teaspoons (more or less) of Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Pepper
Garlic powder
Squirt of tomato paste

I started off with making the sauce first. Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and put aside.  It should taste tangy sweet.

Prepare the cabbage leaves by first boiling them briefly in hot water (just enough to submerge) with about 1 tablespoon of sugar to make them both more pliable and palatable. Remove when soft enough, drain and set aside.

Add all the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and mix them thoroughly. That's it, don't  be squeamish, scrunch it up with your hands!

When the cabbage leaves are sufficiently cool, place one flat on your cutting board. Take a chunk of minced meat filling. roll up into a sausage and place it in the middle of the cabbage leaf.  Fold the leaf in left and right, then fold the bottom upwards making sure that the minced meat sausage fits snugly like a bolster. Then roll the leaf up and either tie up the ends or if you can't be bothered like me, just place it in a casserole dish, folded side down. Do the same for the rest and make sure they all fit in snugly together in the dish to prevent unfolding. Make sure you add oil to the casserole dish beforehand to prevent sticking.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until they have brown edges and the meat filling juices run clear (about 20 mins). At this point, I add the sauce and bake further until the sauce is reduced to about the height of the cabbage rolls.

Remove and serve on warm plates together with mashed potatoes and perhaps some steamed vegetables if you are so inclined.

Guten Appetit!