Category: Pasta

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 :)

    Recipe for my version of incredibly awesome mac & cheese.

    You know what, this is not even really mac & cheese because I used spirali rather than macaroni.

    You could substitute macaroni with other kinds of short pasta and it doesn’t matter what pasta you prefer but do take into account the pasta shape.

    “Will it be able to trap all the delicious sauce?” – that’s the question you must constantly ask yourself!

    # – Spir & cheese, heh.

    This pasta & cheese bake was so delicious. Creamy, cheesy, a little tart from the mayo to balance it all out. The addition of ham gave it some yummy savoury notes.

    Without further ado, lets get on with it.

    Ingredients:

  • 200 grams of short pasta (I used spirali), cooked and drained
  • 1 cup of mayonnaise
  • 250ml of whipping cream
  • 2 cups of grated cheddar
  • 1 red onion, diced
  • 1 red capsicum, seeded and roughly chopped
  • 1 canned of straw mushroom or button mushroom, sliced
  • 3 slices of ham, julienned
  • 3 slices of bread or garlic bread crisp, torn
  • Salt and ground black pepper to taste
  • Olive oil or grapeseed oil for drizzling

    • # – First, cook the pasta according to instructions on the packet. Drain, give it a dash of olive oil and set aside.

    # – In a pan with some oil, shallow-fry the sliced mushrooms, onions and capsicum until fragrant.

    # – Then, add the cooked pasta and stir.

    # – Pour in the mayonnaise.

    # – Followed by the whipping cream.

    # – And lastly, the cheese. Stir…

    # – Add salt to taste.

    # – Don’t forget the ground black pepper.

    # – Pour the mixture into a baking tin. Then, lay julienned ham all over the top.

    # – If you’re using garlic bread crisp, pound it with a rolling pin until it becomes smaller pieces.

    # – Sprinkle the garlic bread crisp all over the top. Otherwise, just tear out ordinary bread and sprinkle all over :)

    # – Drizzle olive oil or grapeseed oil all over.

    # – Bake in pre-heated oven of 190 degrees celcius for 20 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.

    # – Spir & cheese, DONE!

    # – Dig in!

    This is a crowd pleaser, if you have complaints…can scold me :D

    Let me know how it goes.

    Spicy buffalo meatballs recipe.

    Two reasons to eat buffalo meat:

    1.they are quite lean.
    2.they taste surprisingly beefy.
    3.they are cheappppp!

    Yeah they are ridiculously cheap! The same amount of beef would have cost me more than double minimum, depending on its source. So cheap I just had to try buffalo out, who knows I might just discover a cheaper and tastier alternative to beef?

    So, I did with the buffalo mince what I would have done with ordinary beef mince – meatballs!

    # – Buffalo meatball pasta.

    For the meatballs:

  • 350 grams of buffalo mince
  • 100 grams of bread crumbs
  • 1 chili, finely dice
  • 1/2 a large onion, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • 2 tablepspoons of mustard powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of salt
  • Pepper to taste

    • For the sauce:

  • 1 can of plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 can of water
  • 1/2 a large onion, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of fennel powder
  • 1 tablespoon of rosemary powder
  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 145 grams of pasta, cooked as per instructions on packet
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

    • Optional:

  • 1 tablespoon of corn flour
  • 2 tablespoons of water

    • # – First, throw in all the ingredients to make the meatballs into a mixing bowl.

    # – With your hands, knead till ingredients are fully combined.

    # – Like this.

    # – Shape them into the size of golf balls. This recipe should yield around 12 meatballs.

    # – Pan fry them in a pan until crispy all over. There’s no need to worry about whether they will cook through. Set aside.

    # – It is not time to make the sauce. In the same pan, throw in the sliced onions and saute until translucent.

    # – Next, pour the whole can of tomatoes in.

    # – Followed by 1/2 a can of water.

    # – Add the fennel powder, rosemary powder, honey, salt and sugar into the mixture. Stir to combine.

    # – Now add the meatballs back into the sauce. Allow to simmer on low heat and uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. In the meantime, cook some pasta.

    # – This step is optional, but if you like the sauce to be thicker, stir in 1 tablespoon of cornflour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water.

    # – Serve the meatballs and sauce with drained pasta and serve immediately.

    # – Juicy, meaty buffalo balls.

    The buffalo meatballs were absolutely delicious! The smooth, juicy texture of the meat and the crunchy onions made a wonderful combination. The chilies gave them a nice kick.

    I’m so glad I got an extra packet of buffalo mince. Next up, buffalo burgers!