Pasta Salad, black olives, corn & fresh tomato slices

Today I going to prepare a nice juicy salad thats fresh in taste but full of flavor. I came upon the original recipe from the book " Pasta Bible ". Its my favorite read now :D , I selected this to modify as its very easy to prepare and fun to eat , great for snacking too !

1 whole lemon juiced

400g of Pasta cooked till al Denta ( 20mins in boiling water )

1 whole tomato

1 Can of Corn in salt solution ( no cream or sugar added )

10 to 15 pit Black Olives

2 table spoon of honey or maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of table salt

1 table spoon of black pepper

1 teaspoon of finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of finely chopped shallots or onions

4 table spoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 table spoon of Mixed Spices ( theres dried dill , rosemary , thymes , basil , etc.)

Start by heating up the deep sauce pan with the oil . After 5 mins switch to medium low heat and add in the garlic and onions. Cook for about 5 mins and then add in the Pasta. At the same time switch to low heat. Add in the Spices and continue to stir the pasta. Add in the juices of the Lemon slowly to taste. Some like it more zangy then others. lastly add in the salt and pepper to taste.

Before Serving turn off the heat and add in the Honey or Maple syrup slowly to taste also. Serves up !

Stir the pasta in the hot oil mixture till its all well coated.

Gnocchi

I was going through some really old cook books and that's why i found this baby ! its an Old Australia recipe and its called Gnocchi, the unique thing about this pasta dish is that you get to make your own pasta ! And that my friend is where the real fun is !

500g of Minced meat ( for this time I picked chicken breast )
300g of potato
4 whole tomatoes
3 table spoon of Tomato paste
1 whole large yellow onion
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
2 cups of self rising flour
1 egg
2 cubes of chicken stock
2 cups of white wine
1/2 tablespoon of dill
1/2 tablespoon of basil
2 teaspoon of pepper
2 teaspoon of red chili flakes
1 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of warm water
3 table spoon of unsalted butter
3 table spoon of powder Parmesan cheese

First melt the butter in a deep saucepan, once the butter is brought to a simmer, add in the garlic and finely diced onions. Stir fry the onions and garlic till you see some juices. Now add in the minced meat with with the minced tomatoes , tomato paste, the salt , chopped chicken cube stock , basil and dill. Next add in the White wine and bring all that to a nice steady boil. Boil it for about 20 mins on low medium heat and add in the pepper and red chili flakes to taste. Boil until its a nice thick sauce, you may add warm water if you like your sauce a bit more fluid.

Now peel all the potatoes and cut them up into cubes, boil them in salted water until well done. Now take note to leave them to cool down to room temperature before you mash them up. Best way is to do them a day ahead and put them in the fridge and thaw it while you were cooking the sauce. Now put all the mashed potato into a large mixing bowl and add in the flour and a lightly beaten egg. Mixed it all together and add a little bit of salt to taste. Now knit the mixture into a dough and leave it there for 15 mins to 20 mins

Now take a table spoon and start plucking 1 tablespoon of the dough and press it into a oval shaped mini pan cake shaped pasta. Repeat for the whole dough. Now boil some water in a deep pot with salt and a little bit of oil if you like. The uncooked Pasta would sink first to the bottom of the pot and the cooked once would float to the surface. Rinse the cooked ones and put them aside on a large plate to let them dry and cool off.

Now before serving, bring the sauce to a simmer again and add in the pasta and stir lightly. Make sure the sauce coat most of the pastas surfaces. Now before serving, sprinkle some of the cheese on top. There you have it , good old fashion Australian Gnocchi !!

Enjoy !! :D