Super quick pizza sauce (no cooking)

This is a really cool, super quick pizza sauce recipe, that I came across in www.allrecipes.com. All it mainly requires is tomato paste, oregano and olive oil. These are things that we might have in our pantry if we cook Italian food at home.

The recipe mentions, that this sauce can be used as marinara over pasta..but I personally think it wouldnt hit the mark, on pasta. You need fresh tomatoes for a good marinara sauce. Tinned stuff dont quite make it there. But of course, if you fall in love with this sauce, go ahead..pour over some pasta and have a good time.

Here's how it is made..

Level: Easy

Serves: Makes almost 3 cups of sauce

Ingredients:

1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)

1.5 to 2 cups water

1/3 cup olive oil

4 to 5 cloves of garlic, grated

Salt to taste

2 tsp ground black pepper

1.5 tsp oregano

Method:

Step 1 - In a bowl, add the tomato paste, olive oil and water. Mix well till all the liquids combine well.

Step 2 - Add the salt, pepper, oregano and garlic. Mix well. 

Done.

Real easy right? 

In the picture above, I have smeared this sauce over some sliced english muffins. Have topped it with onions, bell peppers, corn and of course some cheese. Baked in a 350 Deg. F. oven for 13 - 15 mins or till the base looks crusty on the sides. Makes a great appetizer for a party.

Enjoy!

Tips:

You can adjust the quantity of garlic as per your liking. 

Any kind of dried italian herbs would work in this recipe. I had oregano at home and so I used it. If you have rosemary or basil or even assorted just add it in. It may change the flavor a bit, but will still be yum!

Leftovers Tips - Crescent Braid

OK I'LL SAY IT!!!

DOUGH HATES ME!! there is something between us, we just cant work together. Readymade or not! Its a curse!!
:)

Hence, my pictures here are not so good...but trust me yours will be better.

My husband braids this dough way better than I do...but he insists I keep trying and conveniently dint help me this time!!!

Am writing this post, just to let you know, what you can do with those leftover dry veggies, the next day.
This easily becomes a great breakfast dish. Filling and of course FANCY!. Sure to impress all !

And its so quick and easy, it will make you happy to know how effortlessly you can create beauties like these.

Level: Easy
Serves: 2 to 3 people

Ingredients:
1.5 - 2 cups leftover veggies
Spread any kind - I used green chutney
Cheese (optional) any kind
1 packet pillsbury crescent rolls dough

Method:
Step 1 - Cover a baking tray with wax paper. Roll out the dough on the tray and seal up the seams to turn it into one long sheet.

Step 2 - Smear the center of the sheet with green chutney. Place the veggies over it.

Step 3 - As seen in the picture, cut the dough with a knife into half strips. Go only till 1/2 inch away from the veggies. Do this on both the sides.

Step 4 - Fold these strips on top of each other and make a nice braid.

Step 5 - Bake in a 350 Deg oven for 10 - 13 mins or till it gets a lovely golden color on it.

Serve hot with some fresh orange juice.

Breakfast is ready!

Enjoy!

Orange Cake

I had some oranges at home, but unfortunately we were not in the mood for orange juice. Well this rarely happens to us!! but it just did.

I couldnt bear to see these oranges just sitting in our fridge. So I started browsing the web for recipes with orange juice. I was more interested in orange chicken kind of recipes. But the first hits I got off the web were for orange cake and orange chiffon cake...well I was aware of orange cakes being in existance, but I thought they were made with orange essence...well my bad...

This is where I stumbled upon this cute orange cake. I read the recipe, had all the ingredients on hand and just started off with it...the end result was a lovely smelling home, and many smiling friends..:)

Heres the recipe for all of you.

Level: Medium
Serves: 6 to 8 people

Inspired from: http://www.whatsforlunchhoney.net/2008/03/flavors-orange-cake.html

Ingredients:
250 gms all purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
40 gms vanilla pudding powder
340 gms sugar
3 eggs
5.5 tblsp butter, at room temperature
250 mls fresh orange juice
2 tsp orange zest

Method:
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 350 Deg. F. Dust a 9 inch pan with butter and flour. Keep aside.

Step 2 - In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose flour, baking powder and vanilla pudding mix. Add the eggs, sugar, butter, orange zest and orange juice. Whip it with an electric whisk till it turns nice and fluffy.

Step 3 - Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake for 50 mins. or till the top of the cake browns itself and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Serve.

To get orange zest, lightly grate an orange over the small holes of a grater. Make sure you do not grate the white portion of the orange. We need just the top orange portion. The white would make the cake bitter.

Dont get over excited with the zest. Do not over use. It smells so heavenly when you zest the orange that you would think that it wouldnt hurt to add some more..BUT IT DOES! so do avoid.

Make sure you sift the flour, baking powder and vanilla pudding mixture. Just stirring it together wont fluff the cake up well.

4 tsp baking powder is not a typo. You need that much.

The link that I have provided, shows an awesome icing over this cake. I am sure that would taste heavenly. But I personally, prefer simple cakes. No icing. Hence I did not make any.

Happy cooking everyone!