Experimenting:Stove Top Pizza

It's municipal elections time here in Kolkata and all day long some political party or the other is blasting microphones in front of my house.I have an open quiz to attend this Friday afternoon and thought I'd look up on some current affairs on the net.Last year,I missed qualifying for the finals by a whisker and this time I didn't want to take any chances.But hard luck,as I found out,since the tremendous noise from the microphones outside gave me an equally tremendous headache and I just couldn't concentrate.

So,what does a self-confessed food-obsessed person do to pass her time when she cannot work?Well,she cooks,but ofcourse! I checked on my refrigerator and found some pizza base that I had bought a few days back and were now threatening to go unusable if not used up fast.So I made a quick sauce with whatever I had on hand - some tomato puree,green bell peppers and seasoning.Just when I had finished thawing the pizza base however ,the power conked.Frustrating right? You Bet I was pissed for a few seconds,but then had a flash of an idea.

I decided to make some pizza in my most trusted Prestige non-stick pan that has never failed me in any of my experiments till date.Turned out I did the right thing,'cause even though it was nothing like the Oven made pizza,it still turned out to be crisp,juicy and a tremendously satisfying evening snack.The fact that I use less cheese(that too low fat) lessened the guilt that attacks you after you're done gobbling up your normal store-bought pizza.Best part was that everyone seemed to love it as well and now I have another interesting thing to pack in for our lunch boxes.

STOVE TOP PIZZA













(serves:2)

Ingredients:

Fresh Pizza Base - 2
Tomato Puree - 4 tbsp
Capsicum - 1 whole chopped
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Tomato - 1/2 chopped (optional)
Shredded Cheese - 20 gms (you can add as much as you want though,I however tend to go easy)
Red chilli flakes - for topping
Salt to taste

Here's How I Made It:

1.Heat a non-stick pan and thaw the pizza base for a couple of minutes. Keep aside.
2.Heat the oil on medium flame.Add the chopped tomatoes and capsicum pieces.Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
3.Add the tomato puree.Sprinkle salt to taste.
4.Stir lightly.The sauce will turn thick and bubbly.
5.Add some cheese at this point to the sauce if you want to.I skip.
6.Take the sauce off the flame.
7. Add a pizza base to the pan.I lightly buttered the base this time but that's optional again.
8.Spread the sauce well with the back of a flat spoon leaving the rims of the pizza base.
9.Add the cheese and red chilli flakes now.
10.Cover with a lid and lower the volume.Cook it this way for 9-10 minutes till the bread is brown and crisp and the cheese all molten.Enjoy it hot with someone you Love :)

P.S..One can try out any number of toppings on this.I only used the usable things I happened to have on hand.I might try out with onions or mushrooms and some grilled Paneer the next time.Most things work with a tomato-cheese sauce.




As I type this out,some neighbourhood boys have come over to kindly give us some Shitala Pujo Bhog.It's Hot Moong Dal Khichuri(Khichdi to rest of India) and a spicy Alu-Dum. Aah,
Divine Bliss!
















If you happen to read this,and like what you see here,please feel free to leave a comment.A newbie blogger will be very encouraged and grateful.See you all in a few!

My First Attempt At Food Blogging

So,here I am,exactly 2 years after I first stumbled across the gorgeous onehotstove.blogspot.com by Nupur Kittur and decided then and there that I must become a Food-Blogger.Personal Work and Health related issues have taken me this long to finally realise my dream.Add to it the lack of a decent camera and my complete disinterest in buying a hi-end phone specifically for this purpose.I hate spending on myself,You see. But This Year many things happened that have forced me to change the way I view my life.I have become more open to trying out new things in life.I even have become an avid clothes shopper,something I used to hate doing earlier.So,finally I have bought myself a decent camera. It's actually quite good and not just decent.And what better way to put it to use than to frame my culinary (mis)adventures in my little kitchen,I thought to myself.So here I am.

I have made this simple pasta dish many a times in the past months.It calls for basic pantry staples,needs actually a handful of ingredients,practically cooks itself in less than 20 minutes and is an absolute delight to the tastebuds.I keep on making this again and again and again and it just seems to work every single time.So,as my Debutante Post,Here I present my way of cooking Penne. I call it Penne ala Priyanka. That's me :)

PENNE ALA PRIYANKA (Pasta tossed in a tomato-garlic-pepper sauce)













Serves:2

Ingredients: Penne - 2 cups
Finely Chopped Garlic - 6 cloves
Tomato Puree - 6 tbsp or 2 Large Tomatoes diced
Green/Red/Yellow Bell Pepper:- chopped,1
Salt as per taste
Red Chilli Flakes/Pepper Powder - 1 tsp
Cheese,shredded - 20 gms
Extra Virgin Olive Oil(Gold Extraction)- 2 tsp

Procedure:

Put 4 cups of water to boil.
Add a pinch of salt and a few drops of oil to it.
Once the water starts boiling,add the pasta and cook till al dente.(7-8 mins for Penne)
Drain the pasta and keep separately.
In a non-stick frying pan,add the oil on medium heat.
Donot cook on full flame else the olive oil tends to smoke.
Add garlic and stir fry for a minute till a garlicky aroma comes out.
Add capsicum pieces if using and stir fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the tomato puree/chopped tomatoes and fry.
Add salt as per taste.The tomatoes will release water at this point.
Stir well to form a sauce.Cook for about 3-4 minutes.
Add the Pasta to the pan.Coat it evenly in the sauce.
Sprinkle Pepper powder or Red chilli flakes. Mix well.
Lower the flame and sprinkle the shredded cheese evenly.
Turn off the gas. Cover with a lid and keep for about 30 secs-1 min.
Take the lid off.The cheese will have melted by now.
Serve hot.
Remember to share it with someone you Love :)

One can always use macaroni or fusilli or even shell pasta in place of penne.the longer varieties like Spaghetti or Linguine won't really work well here. I Use Whole wheat pasta and low fat low sodium cheese for a healthier version.
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Food Blog hopping is one of my major hobbies.Just like my guru-maa Nupur of onehotstove,I am particularly obsessed with regional Indian Cooking.I just finished reading Chitrita Banerji's Eating India yesterday.It is an incredible book,incredible in the sheer geographical distances the author has travelled in order to research her book.It is as much a travelogue as it is a treasure trove of culinary and food trivia.There is just so much more I found out about many regional Indian cuisines that I thought I already knew enough about. I have tried this particularly tasty spinach and corn recipe that I found mentioned by Nupur once beforehand.I remade it today considering I had a lot of sweet corn on hand.It is a simple,5 ingredients recipe that comes out superb everytime.Plus it packs in a lot of nutritional benefits,not just Vitamin A.The only modification I make to it is to add 3-4 slit green chillies.The original recipe calls for none,but I being a true blue Bangaal(Bengalis with ancestors originating from East Bengal,which at present is the country of Bangladesh),cannot eat anything which doesnot have green chillies.Certainly not for lunch.This is what it looks like.





















Find the Recipe Here.
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That's it for my first food-blogging post.I will be back soon.