Fancy fine-dine restaurants should have pictures of their food on their menu cards. If you walk into a Shanti Sagar or an Udupi hotel, you know what the items in the menu are, what they look and taste like. But in fine dining, the chefs are introducing you to dishes whose names you barely know to pronounce. I think it’s only fair that they give you some idea about what to expect when you ask for a ‘farfalle con formaggio’ or a ‘bruschetta al pomodoro’.

This is where I come in- your friendly neighbourhood guide through the confusing maze of Italian food terminology!  Of course, this post is not for everyone. Take this quick test- can you tell the difference between mozzarella and parmesan? Do you know your pasta shapes? If it’s a yes to both, skip the line, go over to the recipe below or the next post! Others, read on!

When you’re ordering a pasta dish, you have to decide on two things- the shape of your pasta and the sauce. I love restaurants where they have those little pasta shapes drawn out in the menu, helping you pick one. There are hundreds of pasta shapes but for all practical purposes, at least here in India, you need to know just a handful of them. Let me draw them out for you.

Now, you must pick a sauce- white, red or pink. White = creamy/cheesy. Red = Spicy/Tomato-ey (remember pomodoro? That’s red) Pink = White + Red. (Note: When I say spicy, don’t imagine Andhra-level spicy. It’s just spicy in comparison with cheesy white.)

And now you’re ready to order away in confidence like you were born Italian. Okay, maybe not that ready. But I think this should help you navigate the menu a little better. And it’s definitely enough to understand what I mean when I take you through the recipe today.

A restaurant menu will also give you a variety of vegetables to choose from but I’ll stick to describing the ones I used in the recipe. You can surely manage to find them in a supermarket nearby. I have used bell peppers, zucchini, olives and parsley.

Bell pepper is just a different word for capsicum. You can use green, red or yellow. Zucchini is like a cucumber and comes in yellow and green. These colours don’t matter much; it is just how colourful you want your pasta to look. Finally, parsley. It looks like coriander but smells a bit sharper.

So, let’s get started!

Ingredients (Serves you and one roommate)

• Pasta – penne/farfalle/fusilli- 2.5 cups (uncooked)
• Sliced Onion (small) – 2 nos.
• Red and green bell pepper- 1 each
• Half a green/yellow zucchini
• Sliced black olives  

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp atta/ wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups of milk
• 1 cube of processed cheese
• Handful of chopped parsley
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Salt, black/white pepper, mixed herbs, chilli flakes  

Method:

1. Fill half of your pressure cooker with water and bring to boil (without lid).

2. When the water boils, add 1 tbsp of salt, stir, and add the pasta.

3. Cook the pasta for the exact number of minutes shown on the packet.

4. Turn off the heat, drain the pasta. Save some of the cooking water/broth to add to the pasta later.

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While the pasta boils,

5. Slice the onions and bell peppers lengthwise. Cut zucchini into quarters as thick as your little finger.

6. Heat 1/2 tbsp of cooking oil. Add chilli flakes and finely chopped garlic to the oil. Saute for 10-15 seconds.

7. Add the onions, saute. Then add the bell peppers.

8. Add salt, pepper and the mixed herbs.

9. If adding zucchini, add it after 2-3 min. (Cz the zucchini doesn’t need a lot of cooking). Keep aside after another 2 minutes.

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For the sauce (the most important part)

10. Add 2 tbsp of butter to the pan on medium heat.

11. Once it is fully melted, add 1 tbsp of atta. Continuously whisk or stir; ensure no lumps are formed. (This should take around 10 seconds.)

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13. On low to medium heat, add the milk slowly, stirring continuously, making sure no lumps are formed.

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14. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper, herbs and chilli flakes. Stir.

Keep stirring for about a minute. Add half of the chopped cheese cube.

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The sauce becomes thick and the taste you get now will be the taste of the dish in the end. So, add any of the above ingredients now to suit your taste.

15. To the sauce, add the vegetables and the cooked pasta.

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16. Add olives, the remaining cheese, chopped parsley. Use the broth to dilute or increase the quantity of sauce.

And finally, don’t forget, like I did,  to transfer the dish to a pretty serving bowl if you intend to show pictures to the rest of the world!! 😀

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A colleague of mine used this recipe to make dinner for her kids. She skipped the veggies, just added boiled pasta to the sauce. I thought pretty pasta would have been a good way to put veggies into kids but I guess a working mom should be allowed concessions!

Give the recipe a try and let me know how it went in the comments below!