TOMATO AND CHEESE PASTA

A simple and tasty pasta recipe which can be made at home is cheese and tomato pasta. From now you need not go to a restaurant to taste the delicious pasta. Easy and quick to make- Give it a try. 
INGREDIENTS

• Pasta                            2 cups
• Onion                           1 large
• Tomatoes                   2 large
• Salt                              to taste
• Garlic                          3-4 large cloves
• Olive oil                       3-4 Tsp.
• Tomato sauce            3 Tsp.
• Italian herb mixture  1 tsp.
• Chopped parsley        2 Tsp.

PROCEDURE
Add enough salt to 5 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Add a tsp. of oil to the water and add the pasta.
Cook the pasta till it doubles its size and becomes soft.
Remove from the water and run fresh cold water over the pasta to stop further cooking.
Set the pasta aside.
In a wide pan add the olive oil. Add the finely chopped garlic. Fry for a minute and add the very finely chopped onion.
Fry, till the onion becomes transparent.
Now add the finely chopped tomatoes.
Add enough salt, cover and cook till the onion - tomato mixture becomes mushy.
Now add the tomato sauce and half cup of water, dried herb mixture  and cook for another 5 minutes till the whole mixture is thick.
Finally add the parsley.
You can now add the cooked pasta, toss the mixture and serve or you can place the pasta on the serving plate and pour the tomato mixture over the pasta.
Sprinkle lots of cheese over the hot pasta and serve.  

CHEESY GARLIC BREAD

A simple snack with the regular bread slices. When you are going for a meal with Italian pasta or noodles you will want to have a good appetizer which is also Italian. This simple cheesy garlic bread can be the best appetizer in your menu. Here I used the regular white sandwich bread. You can also choose any plain Italian bread. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS

• Bread slices                     3-5
• Olive oil                           3 Tsp.
• Salt                                  a pinch
• Red chilly flakes            1 Tsp.
• Any fresh herbs             1 Tsp.(chopped parsley or dill or oregano or basil or mint or thyme)
• Grated cheese                1/4 cup

PROCEDURE
In a bowl add the olive oil, salt, red chilly flakes, finely chopped fresh herbs. Mix well.
Cut the bread into desired shape.
Coat all of the pieces with the olive oil mixture on both the sides.
Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the bread for about 10 to 12 minutes. Flip the bread other side after 5 minutes. 
Now remove the bread from the oven and sprinkle cheese on all of the slices and again bake them till the cheese melts and starts to become golden brown.
Remove and serve hot with any pasta.   

GARLIC RICE(Filipino style)

I was surfing the web for the flavored rice recipes and that is when I came through this recipe. Garlic is used in wide variety of flavored rice in India. But flavored rice only with garlic…….this made me think twice about its taste. But finally I decided to try. Actually this is a Filipino dish with whole lots of garlic and nothing else. I added a hand full of corn for a different twist. The taste is very awesome and the procedure……very simple. For those who don’t take garlic every day, this is the best way to take more of garlic. Give it a try.
INGREDIENTS

• Rice                             1 cup
• Oil                                2 Tsp
• Garlic cloves             4-5(chopped)
• Sweet corn                2-3 Tsp(optional)
• Salt                              to taste
• Crushed red chilies    1
• Coriander                  2 sprigs(chopped)

PROCEDURE
Cook the rice with 2 cups of water and let the rice cool completely. Any long grain or sticky rice will be fine.
Heat oil in a pan and add the garlic cloves and sweet corn. Fry for a minute. Both of them should not change color. So keep the flame low.
Now add the cooked and cooled rice. Fry for one more minute. Finally add the salt and crushed chilly flakes and chopped coriander. Mix well and serve hot.