Category: Noodles

Heart-shaped ricotta & spinach ravioli with prawns recipe

It’s been a while since I posted any recipe. So I’m pretty excited to share this one because it think it’s crazy delicious. The best thing is that you could substitute the ravioli with any other type of pasta and I’ve made this dish with both linguine and spirali.

So, I’ve gotten my hands on these beautiful heart-shaped ricotta & spinach ravioli from Bottega Mediterranea. They import delicious goodies such as cheeses, pasta, sauces and cured meats from all over Italy and best of all, you can order online and have them deliver to your doorstep! They also have a shop in the middle of Kuala Lumpur where you can eat and shop. But most of all I enjoy the delivery service and its prices; surprisingly very reasonable!

Anyway, before you even begin on this recipe, I implore you to make a huge jar of the non-spicy peri-peri sauce aka Yummy Red Sauce as it’s a very versatile sauce. Besides using it as a pasta sauce, I’ve also used it as a salad dressing as well as marinade for fish, steaks and of course chicken. Basically, follow the peri-peri sauce recipe exactly but omit all the spicy chilis and replace with perhaps 1 or 2 more whole red capsicums. Of course, without the spiciness it becomes a very toddler-friendly sauce too.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, lets get back to my recipe….here are the ingredients:

125ml of Yummy Red Sauce aka non-spicy peri-peri sauce (make it ahead and it will store well for 1.5 months in the fridge)
1 onion, sliced
10 or more cherry tomatoes, halved
250gms of ricotta & spinach ravioli or any type of pasta
10 or more prawns, peeled (I used frozen peeled king prawns)
1/2 cup of parmigiano reggiano, grated (got the cheese from Bottega Mediteranea too)
Salt & pepper to season

First, prepare your prawns. Peel and wash them or in my case, I defrosted the prawns sous vide style at 57 degree celcius for 20 minutes for perfect, succulent prawns.

Then, boil the pasta according to instructions.

While the pasta is boiling, start up your pan with some olive oil and begin sauteing the sliced onions till fragrant.

Next, add the halved cherry tomatoes and saute until slightly softened.

In the meantime, drain the pasta.

Once the tomatoes have softened, add the pasta into the pan.

Followed by the sous vide prawns. If you’re starting with raw prawns, feel free to pan fry them together with the onions first.

Stir in the Yummy Red Sauce.

Mix everything until evenly coated. Taste and season with salt & pepper as needed.

Lastly, grate the beautiful parmigiano reggiano over.

Voila, heart-shaped ricotta & spinach ravioli with prawns…an easy but impressive dish to serve to your loved ones :)

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Have a wonderful time cooking up a storm!

A few things I cooked in the past months.

I am consciously trying not to write about babies and hormones. So I am going to blog about food instead.

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A while ago, I attempted to make Seremban beef noodle, one of my favourite things to eat pre-preggers.

Seremban beef noodle is quite different from KL’s. The former is lighter and has a variety of textures while the latter is richer and more punchy in flavours.

It was easier to cook than I initially thought, and the recipe I used was from this lovely blog.

# – My first Seremban beef noodle attempt.

I used Korean udon noodles, which were a tad too stodgy for my taste, so stick to chinese rice noodles!

I have since developed a disdain for innards of any kind, so I probably won’t make this dish until after the baby has arrived.

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Another thing I really loved pre-preggers was salt beef. The only place I know that serves good salt beef is Nutmeg at Bangsar Village 2.

Salt beef is just a cheap cut of beef that has been cured and then boiled, so instead of paying extra I decided that I should make them myself.

The recipe I used is from The Telegraph.

# – Cure brisket in spiced brine.

# – After 7 days…

# – Poach for 3 hours until tender.

# – Salf beef, DONE!

We ate it with potatoes and Dijon mustard. Well, must say I was a little underwhelmed despite the amount of effort put in to make the dish.

So, I think I will stick to going to Nutmeg (after baby comes cause the idea of eating salf beef right now makes me want to hurl), hehehe.

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I friggin loveeeeeeeee hummus. I could eat it everyday. It’s quite a pity that hummus is not a more common sight at supermarkets here.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to make hummus, if you cheated….

The traditional way of making hummus is complicated, you have to pre-soak and grind the chickpeas, grind sesame seeds till they become paste, boil olive oil till it’s scalding hot etc etc but the angmoh way of doing it is very easy…just blitz with a food processor. Don’t even need cooking.

The recipe I used is from BBC.

# – Stick canned chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), crushed garlic, lemon juice, ground cumin, olive oil, salt and water into the food processor.

# – Blitz and season if needed.

# – Serve with flat bread….so healthy and easy.

Use it like a bread spread too in sandwiches..healthier than butter. Yummy!

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I had leftover pears, so I made a pear cake. I used a recipe from this blog, and it’s easily one of the easiest things I’ve ever baked.

Looks quite beautiful too I must say. The sponge was light and fluffy, the pears were soft and chewy. Yums.

# – Italian pear cake.

# – Served with vanilla ice cream.

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Lastly, I made Gordon Ramsay’s pork neck curry again. I used shoulder loin (funnily, they are also called butt) and it worked very well.

Instead of mango salsa, I made apple salsa because I forgot to buy mangoes and I had loads of apples in the fridge. They worked well…just cubed apples, halved tomato cherries, lemon juice, salt & pepper and a handful of pea sprouts.

# – Yummy yum yum….served with rice.

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That’s all, kthxbai.

Slightly elaborate Instagram updates with a Tomato & Ham Pasta recipe.

Do you know what this is?

# – Take a guess.

It’s a pet overall that my mom has fashioned out of a pair of old granny pants. My mom even made a hole for the tail…it is freakin’ brilliant!

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This is Charlie looking absolutely miffed because I tied his patch of hair up.

# – Dude needs a groomin’.

FTS, while writing this post I forgot he had a grooming appointment at 3pm today. Completely forgot about it T_T.

Looks like a couple more weeks before we’ve got time to make you look more presentable, boy.

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This qipao is 31 years old. My mom wore this on her wedding day and soon, I will be wearing it on mine too :)

My mom was a really tiny girl and according to her, the dress was loose on her.

I’m just glad I could fit in it now because I remember trying it when I was 15 and it wouldn’t even zip up pass my hips!!!

My mom has a good strategy, that I wear this while saying goodbye to guests on my reception cause I won’t be sitting down. Cause if I sat down, my belly layers will jut out. Well, thanks for the advice Mom!

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This is Mom being a total fan girl posing with Sam Lee, a HK actor. We were at Unity Store KL launch.

She’s currently watching a TVB show with him in it called Ghetto Justice. I think he looks a lot cuter in real life!

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Today’s dinner was pumpkin gnocchi with spinach & tomatoes in Chinoz BSC. One of my favourite foods and about the only vegetarian that rocks my socks off.

# – Top is fish & chips (ordinary) but pumpkin gnocchi below is OMGZ!

Pillowy but light gnocchi with a mild pumpkin taste with blanched spinach and tomato sauce. So simple but soooooooooo gooood!

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And now….recipe for my simple tomato & ham pasta. This is a truly simple recipe and doesn’t require many ingredients. Very tasty and quite healthy too!

# – Simple tomato & ham pasta.

The ingredients:

  • 200grams of pasta (I used tagliatelle), cooked according to instructions on packet
  • 2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 slices of ham, julienned
  • 300ml of tomato juice
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

    • #1 – First saute the sliced onions until translucent.

    #2 – Then, throw in the ham and stir fry until slightly browned.

    #3 – Next, throw in the quartered tomatoes.

    #4 – With a potato masher, squash the tomatoes till they break down. Crying.

    #5 – Pour in the tomato juice, little by little and stir until you get the consistency of a slightly thickened sauce.

    #6 – Season with salt & pepper. Remember to taste as you go as tomato juice is quite salty on its own!

    #7 – Dump in the cooked pasta (which you of course, was already cooking while you were making the sauce) and mix to coat evenly.

    #8 – Tomato & ham pasta with a sprinkling of grated parmesan, DONE!

    Love this dish, I have made it several times actually. It’s quick & easy to make and really flavourful without having to use an entire can of plum tomatoes or herbs. You’d be surprised!

    Have a good week, peeps :)