Italian - Twinkling Tina Cooks

Honey Lemon Panna Cotta – No Bake Dessert Recipe

Lemon and Honey is a great combination for desserts this Honey Lemon Panna Cotta is subtle yet has an explosion of flavor as you savor it.

You must have already known how crazy I am for desserts. I like everything Italian – food, culture, wine, desserts, coffee, shoes, bags, men! Panna Cotta the classic Italian dessert is one of my favorites because of its richness and subtleness. I can never resist a good panna cotta. Panna Cotta in Italian means cooked cream. The basic panna cotta can be as simple as a combination of milk, cream, sugar set with gelatin. And there are innumerable flavor combinations you can come up with both classic and contemporary. I had this honey and lemon panna cotta at an AAnglo-Indian restaurant in Bangalore called Bow Barracks, which sadly has closed down now. But I had it in my mind that I need to recreate it. And what better time to do it than the A to Z challenge! I am doing more no bake dessert recipes in this challenge than the baked goodies so that every can try out, even who are not fond of baking and ovens. Continue reading Honey Lemon Panna Cotta – No Bake Dessert Recipe

Mango Panna Cotta

Mango season can’t get over without a Mango panna cotta. Mango Panna cotta is a much needed tropical twist to the very classic Italian dessert.

What is Panna Cotta

Mango Panna Cotta is such a simple dessert recipe for any dessert lover. In Italian Panna cotta literally is cooked cream. And mango season calls for making everything with mangoes. I can have a panna cotta almost any time – it is such a velvety smooth pot of bliss. But hey it’s a lot of calories. Seriously if these calories and gaining a lot of unwanted weight wasn’t too much of a thing I would have a dessert in every meal!

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Pear and Lettuce Salad with Toasted Walnuts

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The pear and lettuce salad is the fresh and crunchy twist to the otherwise boring salad bowl. It’s drizzled with tangy balsamic vinegar and topped with toasted walnuts for the added crunch. It’s ready under 5 minutes.

I am loving salads these days. The Pear and Lettuce Salad is just the one I needed this afternoon to beat the heat and get in some portion of healthy food. It is even better with the toasted walnuts.

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LETTUCE, GRILLED TOMATO AND CHICKEN SALAD

lettuce-grilled-tomato-chicken-salad, salad,

Fresh salads are super good for your body and they look so appetizing. The Lettuce, Grilled Tomato and Chicken Salad is colorful, fresh and super yum. I made this for my breakfast today and made a healthy start to the day!

This #AtoZChallenge is making sure I am eating right this month.

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Pasta Alla Trapanese

Italian cuisine and pasta have become synonymous everywhere. But somehow I have seen people here (in India) obsessed with only two kinds of pasta – in red sauce or in white sauce. Well you can make pastas even without the same old sauce. How about pasta with pesto? A classic recipe from Trapani – it’s a small province of Sicily.

Italians love their pomodoro & basilico and so do I. [tomato & basil respectively]. This is a David Rocco inspired recipe btw.

All that you need:

Tomato – 3 chopped
Garlic – 4-6 cloves
Eggplant – 1 sliced thin
Potato – 1 sliced thin
Spaghetti – 250g (you can use a pasta of your choice)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 1 cup (for pesto as well as frying the potato & eggplant)
Salt – to taste
Oregano – 1 teaspoon
Thyme – 1 teaspoon
Basil – a hand full
Pecorino cheese – as much you like!

Let’s get started:

Making this Pesto alla Trapanese is very simple.

Put the tomatoes, garlic & basil leaves in a grinder and coarsely grind them. Add salt and half a cup of extra virgin olive oil to make a smooth pesto. [Traditionally these are supposed to be done in a large stone mortar & pestle – but I don’t have it so I am sticking to my blender]

In a frying pan heat some olive oil and pan fry the eggplant & potato slices. [Before frying I dust them with little salt usually, that helps is reducing the water and lessens the frying time]. Take out of flame and drain excess oil on a kitchen paper.

Cook the spaghetti in hot boiling salted water for 15 mins or till it’s just becoming soft. Don’t overcook it – it will just start falling apart.

Now here’s my twist – Put the tomato pesto in the frying pan, add the cooked spaghetti & fried potato & eggplant and toss them together. Add some thyme and 1 ladle of the pasta water. It really helps to get the pasta together.

Add a generous amount of grated pecorino cheese.

And you are done – add a sprinkling of oregano and enjoy!

Butter Garlic Prawn Spaghetti

I am a self confessed fan of Italian cuisine. Pastas are so quick n easy to make and you can experiment with almost anything that you like. So this time I tried with prawns. This is a Donna Hay inspired recipe… so loads of credit to her.

All that you need

1. Butter – 1 tblspoon

2. Olive Oil – 1 tblspoon

3. Prawns – 250 g – de-veined and cut in halves lengthwise

4. Garlic crushed – 4-5 cloves

5. Lemon Juice – 2 tspn

6. Thyme – 1 tspn

7. Lemon grass – 1 tspn

8. Salt & pepper for seasoning

Lets get started

Marinate the prawns with lemon juice & salt

Melt butter in a wok and add olive oil

Add crushed garlic and fry for 2 mins.

Add the prawns and fry in medium heat

Boil the spaghetti with little salt.

Add thyme, lemon grass and seasoning to prawn. [I use dried herbs, if you get fresh herbs please use that, and let me know where you collected that in Bangalore]

Once the pasta is cooked properly drain the water and the spaghetti to prawn and mix well.

That’s it you are done… drizzle some olive oil before serving and enjoy

Little Suggestion

While cooking pasta you should always add it in hot boiling water. There’s no need of putting oil in the water it doesn’t help in anyway. After draining the pasta from hot water put some chilled water and drain. Your pasta will never stick with each other!

Enjoy & let me know how you liked it.