Inspired by Delicious' Napolicious

One of our favourite dishes at Ms Read's Restaurant, Delicious in Malaysia has got to be Napolicious. It's a creamy tomato based sauce which is simply satisfying (as seen in the picture below). Of course, when we can't simply have an order of Napolicious since we're here in Melbourne. We decided to try our hand at making our own rendition of that dish. Ours is probably a simpler version and looks like it lacks sauce compared to the restaurant's version but I'm pretty sure there's enough flavour in this one that would make you finish all your spaghetti.

Ingredients: (serves 3)

• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• bacon (however much you prefer)
• 1 medium sized onion (diced)
• 1 large carrot (diced)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely diced)
• 150-200ml of cream
• dried rosemary and thyme 
• salt and pepper
• handful of cheese (cheddar, mozarella or 3 cheese slices)

Instructions:

1. Fry off the bacon till its crisp and the fat has rendered. Put it aside.
2. Leave the bacon fat in the pan and fry the carrots and onions with the fat. So sinful but full of flavour.
3. Once the onion and carrots are almost cooked, add the can of tomatoes with the herbs and half a can of water and let it simmer till the carrots are cooked. 
4. Once the carrots are cooked and the sauce is slightly reduced, add the cream, cheese and 3/4 of the bacon. 
5. Mix well and season with salt and pepper. 
6. I recommend tossing your pasta into the sauce instead of just pouring the sauce on top. It coats every piece of pasta and you won't be covered in pasta sauce when trying to mix it on your plate.

Garnish the pasta with the leftover bacon and some chopped parsley to give it some freshness. 

White Sauce Penne with Meatballs and Peas

Pasta is definitely something we can always fall back on when we don't know what to cook for dinner.  For mom's on the go who want to fix up a quick meal, you can never go wrong with pasta be it white or red sauce, vegetarian or with meatballs. Moreover, I think for students especially it's also very economical and fills you up good to do all that studying! Here's an easy pasta dish: Penne with white sauce, simple meatballs and peas.

Ingredients:

Meatballs.

• 250g Minced beef
• Onions
• Garlic
• Rosemary
• Salt and Pepper

• Frozen Peas
• Penne Pasta
• Milk
• Egg
• Salt and Pepper
• Cheese (We used cheddar, but mozzarella or parmesan will do)

Instructions (Meatballs)

1. Cook 2 cloves of garlic and a medium sized onion in a pan with some oil until fragrant.

2. Chop the rosemary very finely and pour the cooked onions and garlic into the bowl of minced beef.

3. Incorporate all the ingredients together. Add salt and pepper.

4. Form the meatballs by rolling a spoon of the minced beef in your palms.

5. Pan fry with some oil until dark brown. 

*Just in case you'd like to add more flavour to your meatballs, you can try out a tester first then only start rolling out the rest after you've tweaked it to your liking.

Instructions (Sauce and overall dish)

1. Pour pasta, peas and meatballs into a pan.

2. Beat an egg in about 200ml of milk.

3. Pour the egg-milk mixture into the pan and make sure you continuously stir the mixture with the pasta, peas and meatballs. Do not stop stirring or you will get lumps of egg. What you want is a creamy sauce. Then add the cheese and stir till it melts.

Cooking the pasta and peas together would cut your cooking time especially if you have a small stove.

As your pasta is a few minutes away from being done, pour in your frozen peas.

Beat an egg into the milk.

Pour the egg-milk mixture into the pan and stir continuously. 

Serve hot and enjoy.

Curry Laksa

Curry laksa has to be one of my favourite dishes back home because just like a bowl of home-cooked soup; curry laksa whether made at home or bought outside, is like comfort food and fills you up with an abundance of textures and flavours. How could you pass on a bowl of coconut curry soup noodles? I certainly can't since it has three of my many favourite things I like when it comes to food. Curry, soup, and mihun noodles (not the yellow noodles though!). So it's a no brainer for this to be one of my favourites as a child. 

Curry laksa is fairly simple to make as there are many curry laksa pastes and powders easily available. Especially if you're a student wanting to make a fast meal, just a simple bowl of curry laksa with a few pieces of shredded meat and eggs with a handful of vegetables would be great to curb that homesickness.

Serving: 8 people
Ingredients:

• 500 ml fresh coconut milk
• 1/2 - 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 packet of curry laksa mix (we used Tean's gourmet curry laksa paste)
• 1/2 tbsp tumeric powder (we used Baba's)
• 1 tbsp chilli powder
• 800 ml chicken stock
• Light soy sauce to taste
• Curry leaves

For condiments:

• Noodles (mihun/ yellow noodles)
• Long beans
• Bean sprouts, tauge
• Pork balls
• Fish cakes
• Cockles 
• Lime
• Chilli paste
• Mint leaves
• (Not in pictures) Taufu pok, shredded chicken meat.

Instructions:

1. Blanch the noodles, long beans, bean sprouts and pork balls. Blanch the cockles and remove from shell.
2. Mix the chilli powder into the curry laksa paste and fry lightly over a low heat together with curry leaves.
3. Quickly add the chicken stock into the pot when the fragrant smell of the curry paste wafts in the air.
4. When the soup starts boiling, lower the heat and add coconut milk, evaporated milk.
5. Add the soy sauce to taste if needed.
6. Turn off the fire before the mixture turns to boil so that the coconut milk doesn't separate. 
7. Put noodles in a bowl and pour the curry into the bowl. Place the condiments on top as seen and it's ready to be served!

Serve with lime and sambal (chilli paste).

Spaghetti Sauce Infused with Prawns

Spaghetti has been a regular dish in our home. From carbonara to bolognese. 

 Simple ingredients that make a hearty spaghetti sauce.

 The shells and the heads of the prawns will not go to waste! They're sauteed for a few minutes and made into prawn stock to help flavour the sauce.

Enjoy with pan seared chicken breast and some roasted vege.

❤