A Scientist in the Kitchen

Hosting this week’s Presto Pasta Night is certainly a feast for the senses what with all these wonderful ideas to cook pastas and noodles.

My week as host started with Ashley of eat me, delicious‘ entry of Soba Noodles with Zucchini Ribbons. Edamame, zucchini and mushrooms. What more could you ask for in a noodle dish?

Maybelle’s Mom has this pasta for all seasons - Pasta with warm egg and pea shoots or whatever vegetable is in season.

Anyone game for a BLT sandwich, err, pasta? Let’s head over to Eliza of notes from my food diary for her Bacon, lettuce and tomato pasta salad.

Beef and broccoli served with steamed rice is a popular Asian dish, but if you want to satisfy your craving for beef and broccoli and noodles at the same time, how about sara’s (of i like to cook) Thai-ish Beef and Broccoli noodles?

Need to jazz up your pesto? Try replacing basil with another herb or replacing parmesan cheese with another kind? The possibilities are endless such as this Watercress and Rocket Blue Cheese Pesto from Kittie of Kittens in the Kitchen.

While green eggs and ham are different to come by, you certainly won’t have a problem to whip this Green Pasta Lunch from Ben of What’s Cooking?.

When Serena of Rock Cakes‘ veg box came this week, bursting with courgettes, beans and broccoli, her idea was to combine all these vegetables into one creamy, lemony, check out her Tomato and Olive Spaghetti with Griddled Courgettes.

Italian sausages goes well with any pasta dish. To add an Asian slant to your pasta, try using spicy Thai sausages instead as suggested by Pam of Sidewalk Shoes? Her Spicy Thai Sausage and Cabbage Pasta is a winner.

Coconut milk is popular in tropical Asian dishes (particularly here in the Philippines), so I’m definitely going to try out Foodie Tots‘ Coconut Shrimp Soba.

Let’s welcome back Daphne of More Than Words for her first recipe since Mid-May. Check out her recipe for Seafood Aglio Olio and find out why congratulations seem to be in order.

From Hong Kong, Rita of Mochacholata-Rita shares with us her Tamarind-Grilled Snapper with Noodles. It’s a dish with tasty, hot, sweet, and sour noodles.

Cleaning out the pantry may given you hidden treasures worth cooking. That’s what TS and JS of [eating club] vancouver did and discovered a bag of coloured gemelli pasta. Presto! Smoky Summer Pasta!

Here’s another proof why pasta and sausages goes well together. Becke (Columbus Foodie) shares with us her Baked Pasta with Chicken Sausage, a sure hit.

What to do when spinach and cheese come together? Try Joelen’s Culinary Adventures‘ Spinach and Cheese Cannelloni.

This is my first time to meet Katie of Soupus Dei and her Chicken Puttanesca with Basil Pappardelle sounds great! Read her “About Me” as well for an interesting story on food and writing.

For a flavorful and light pasta, Chicken and Broccoli Linguine hits the spot. Sun-dried tomatoes and broccoli florets makes this dish perfect for a summer day. Terry of Got No Milk shares with us her recipe inspired from a vegan pasta.

I’ve never had orzos before, tiny rice-shaped pasta but can be substituted for rice. And Marye of Baking Delights made this Orzo Salad with Asian Ginger Dressing with ingredients mostly from her garden. Wow!

This is an original recipe from Lore of Culinarty - Fettucine and Blackcurrants and Slight Soured Cabbage. The sourness you find in the sauerkraut juice is paired with the more fruity and cheery sourness of blackcurrants.

Here’s my pasta dish this week - Tuna and Thai Basil Pasta.

From of my favorite blogs, comes this Steak Caesar Pasta Salad. Katie of Thyme for Cooking has come with a great pasta dish this week as well another round of anecdotes of 120 kisses to say hello and a hundred kisses to say goodbye.

I didn’t know that seashell pastas are called Conchiglie. And this Conchiglie Stuffed with Roast Pumpkin and Ricotta is simply YUM. Avra of I’ve Got Food on my Brain loves the the combination of the tomato sauce and white wine which adds just the right finishing touch or perhaps it’s the creamy combination of the pumpkin and the ricotta or the the richness of the 10 cloves of garlic roasted or perhaps all of the above!

From Ruth, the creator of Presto Pasta Nights (hey, there’s http://www.prestopastanights.com already!), here are several ideas to make salad dressings that goes great with pasta.

Some extra cooked chicken, a bit of capers, add some garlic and cheese and your choice of pasta and you’ve got a delicious dinner. Here’s what Patsyk of Family, Friends and Food cooked up - Penne with Roasted Chicken and Capers.

Soba noodles is popular this week. Sherra of Our Taste of Life shares with us Soba Noodles In Sweet Soy Sauce. And it comes with an adult and kiddie versions!

What to do with those gorgeous shrimps and scallops? Try Shrimp and Scallop Mediterranean Pasta. Read also Jescel (Spice of Life)’s take on the difference between “super-size” in the US and “super-size” in the Philippines!

How about some pasta for dessert? Another new pasta I’ve are rosmarino pasta that resemble rosemary (rosmarino in Italian) leaves. Try this Lemon Pasta Pudding from Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once.

These are certainly a lot of ideas for making great pastas and noodles. Thanks to Ruth for letting me host this event. Next week, it’s back to Ruth for another round of Presto Pasta Nights.

Have a great weekend!!!

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PS - The next To market, to market… event is on! Deadline is on August 15. More details later.

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There are three kinds of basil that I know of - sweet basil for pastas, Thai basil and holy basil. At home, we have Thai basil growing profusely in the garden. I like them in spicy dishes though I’ve used Thai basil in spring rolls. The aroma can be overpowering at times so I was a bit wary of using it in tomato-based pastas. But I just had to have my pasta fix one time and there was no sweet basil around, and decided to add Thai basil instead. Goodness, just pasta goodness! There’s a subtle difference between Thai basil and sweet basil with the tuna pasta but the Thai basil and tuna combination is the winner!

Got more pasta dishes up your sleeves? I’m hosting Presto Pasta Nights this week so you still have time to send me your posts. The email is ascientistinthekitchen AT gmail DOT com.

Tuna and Thai Basil Pasta

250 grams spaghetti pasta
1 can diced tomato
1 can tuna chunks in oil, drained and oil reserved
5 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 medium size white onion, chopped coarsely
chili flakes, pepper and salt to taste
A handfull of Thai basil, shredded in half by hand

Cook pasta according to package directions. Saute garlic and onion in reserved oil. Add the tomatoes and simmer for a few minutes. Add the tuna and stir a few times to mix the tuna and sauce. Add the Thai basil and simmer for a minute. Season with chili flakes, salt and pepper. Add the pasta and mix well to coat the pasta with sauce. Remove from fire and serve.

Baking is not really my forte. Especially breads. Think of all the kneading and waiting for the dough to rise? I’m afraid I don’t have the patience to wait. Though I knew I would have to bake my own bread one of these days. I like cooking things from scratch and there seems to be a tremendous inspiration of breads around the blogs. So this time, when I was paired with KJ of A Cracking Good Egg in the Taste and Create event hosted by Nicole at For the Love of Food, I was drawn to this fantastic foccacia recipe.

Look ma, no kneading! I essentially followed her Fantastic Foccacia recipe except I used 1 tbsp dried yeast instead of the fresh yeast she recommends. What’s great with focaccia is you can simply top it with salt or play around herbs like what I did. For my first focaccia, I topped it with a combination of chopped garlic, and dried thyme and tarragon. The garlic smelled so heavenly while it was baking and wafted around the house. The resulting focaccia was crusty outside, but the inside was another story. It was a bit moist, a bit undercooked and I have to toast again before eating. Hhmm, I wonder what went wrong. Could it be the yeast? My stove top oven? That is something I can investigate on this weekend. Nevertheless, I will certainly be perfecting this focaccia for my taste.

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Curious about orovo detox?

Pancit Molo In the Filipino language, pancit refers to noodles and the next word that goes with is the kind of noodles. Hence we have pancit canton, pancit sotanghon, pancit malabon, and pancit molo.This week I share with you Pancit Molo, a type of noodle soup. The Pancit Molo in the dish is basically shredded wonton wrappers used in making dumplings or siomai. Dumplings are also added to the broth as well.

Pancit Molo

1. First you need to make dumplings, the dumpling recipe I used is the same one as the fried wontons with pineapple that I made earlier. Make about 2 dozen dumplings. Reserve about a cup of ground meat mixture.

2. Bring 4 cups of meat broth to a boil. Taste for salt and pepper. Add the dumplings and the reserved meat mixture. Make sure to crumble ground meat before dropping into the boiling broth.

3. When dumplings are done, add about a cup of shredded wonton wrapper. Make sure that the shredded wontons are well separated from each other as you drop them, other they will form into clamps. Drop all the leafy vegetables you like, bok choi, chives, scallions work well. For my Pancit Molo, I added malunggay leaves which grow profusely in our garden.

Again, taste the soup and adjust for salt and pepper.

This is my contribution to this week’s Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Ruth of Once Upon a Feast.

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After eating all these stuff, I’m hot and sweaty but definitely filled. Makes me want to lie down on some adjustable beds and get some sleep.