Cream of Cauliflower Soup

 

I am surprised that I have not posted a single recipe for a soup so far. Rather unexpected, because I do make soups so often. To make amends for that lapse, here is a recipe I made for my daughter. She is enduring a bout of viral fever and nothing like a hearty soup to perk her bored spirits up.

Soups are very versatile. They can be made with minimal ingredients, can range from clear to rich and creamy. A soup can stimulate appetite, can cure anything from cold, flu to heart breaks. Soups are especially welcome during chilly wintry evenings.

What are the benefits of eating soup during / before a meal?

1. A soup combines dual advantage of being nutrient dense and not energy dense. In simple speak, soups offer more nutrients and less calories.
2. Vegetable soups are a tasty way to include more vegetables to daily intake.
3. Broth based soups help to lower hunger, manage food cravings, increase fluid intake.
4. Having a soup before the main meal helps to decrease intake of calories by at least 20%.
5. Homemade soups with fresh ingredients are the healthiest, most nourishing and wholesome.

You Need

1. White cauliflower – 10 medium florets
2. Cabbage –1/4 cup, shredded
3. Onion – 1/8 of medium onion, sliced
4. Skim milk – 1 cup
5. Fresh water – 1 cup
6. Butter – 3/4  tsp
7. Salt – 1/2 tsp
8. Black /White Pepper – 1/2 tsp
9. Oregano powder –  1/4 tsp

To Assemble

1. Blanch cauliflower florets for only 2 minutes ( to remove unwelcome guests such as worms)
2. In a pressure pan, heat butter, fry onion to light pink, add cabbage followed by cauliflower. Toss until all vegetables are coated with butter. Add 1/2 cup skim milk, pressure cook till 1 whistle.
3. Cool the contents, reserve a couple of florets for garnish and run in a mixer till it becomes a smooth puree.
4. Return to pressure pan, rinse out mixer jar with freshwater, add that to the pan too. Add the reserved 1/2 cup milk to adjust consistency. Add salt, oregano.
5. Simmer the soup until it just comes to a boil. Keep stirring to avoid scorching the base of the pan.
6. Add crushed black / white pepper to taste.
7. Grate the reserved cauliflower, divide among soup bowls, pour hot soup over that and serve piping hot.

Variations -

You may add rosemary or thyme instead of oregano if you prefer.

A pinch of grated nutmeg at the end will also be great.

A few pasta shells can also be boiled and added if serving to a sick child (for some calories and to make it more appealing).

Spaghetti Kitchen’s Gusto d’Italia ~ Review

Italian cuisine is a hot favourite in our home. Last week, I received an invite to review the new lunch buffet menu at the Spaghetti Kitchen and agreed with great pleasure.
The restaurant has introduced the ‘Gusto d’ Italia’ – a scrumptious lunch and dinner buffet. The festival has come to Bangalore starting September 25th, after seeing great success in Chandigarh where it was first launched. The invite proudly stated that “Spaghetti Kitchen has bagged the Times Food Award in Best Italian Restaurant at Kolkata and Bangalore 2011”. This sounded promising, and I was eager to sample the newly launched buffet menu.
Overview
The buffet menu is exhaustive. With three rotating menus and great options to choose from each, one can truly indulge in plenty more than pizzas and pasta. At prices of Rs. 399 for the vegetarian and Rs. 449 for the non vegetarian lunch buffet, and with slightly higher prices for the dinner buffet, this is a fabulous Value For Money option. I have reviewed only the vegetarian menu.
Non–vegetarians do have ample choices from the menu. I found an equal distribution of vegetarian and non-vegetarian selection


Location and Ambience  10 /10
The Spaghetti Kitchen chain has secured a great location opposite the Forum Mall at Koramangala. Once inside, the large windows, cheerful home-like decor, and airy ambience look very inviting.





Upon Arrival  9 /10
Fresh ciabatta bread with dips and olives set the ball rolling. The smoked tomato soup with basil was just perfect. Diners have the option of custom-assembling fresh salads from the salad bar. I loved the freshness of the salad veggies and the choice of dressings on offer. I also enjoyed the fresh Caprese salad served at the salad counter.




Drinks  7/10
With the on-going Martini Festival, and Millers Time Bonus (ask your server for ongoing offers), tipplers have a choice. There were good mocktail options as well. I sampled the Orange and Peach Virgin Martini – fresh flavours and an unusual combination! Surprisingly, I could not locate a wine list.


 
Antipasti  8/10
Among the starters, I sampled the Parmesan Cream cheese potatoes, the Sicilian Garlic Cottage Cheese and Eggplant Parmiggiana. The Eggplant Parmiggiana was clearly the best. Nothing extraordinary about the potatoes or the garlic cottage cheese. I missed out sampling the risotto; well, reason to visit again!



Entrees  9 /10
I had thin crackling crust pizza served fresh at the table, by the slice – great when we do not want cold pizza slices waiting for their turn!
I was spoilt for choice with Fettuccine Pesto, Penne Arrabiata, Veg Lasagna and the Chef’s signature Penne Vodka (from the special cook-off held on that day), and sampled them all. It was difficult to pick a favourite from these dishes. In this four-way tie, the Fettuccine Pesto would win for the freshness and flavour of the pesto! Spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli in a tomato sauce was delectable too.



Desserts  6 /10
With each course outdoing the previous one, I had great expectations from the dessert menu! Too bad, only the Gelato and the Cassata lived up to my expectations. The Brownie was decent, not the best I’ve had; and I’ve been lucky to sample much better Tiramisu elsewhere.



The Cook-Off
The highlight of the day was the cook off by Chef Bill Marchetti.
Chef Bill Marchetti, previously with the ITC Group, has been the mastermind behind the Italian menus at Spaghetti Kitchen. He has lavished great attention to detail and opened up Italian cuisine far beyond Pizzas and Pasta for the Indian diner.
The Chef livened the scene with his humour, candour and enthusiasm. In what seemed like child’s play, he demonstrated three dishes – Spaghetti Amatriciana with Bacon, Fettuccine con Pesto and his signature Penne Vodka. All through the demo, the Chef was generous with his cooking tips and advice. ”Start with boiling pasta correctly. Use 1 litre water and 10 gm salt for every 100 gm dry pasta. Boil until al dente, drain, and do not rinse the pasta.” And more …
I sampled the Fettuccine and the Penne – both were outstanding! The fresh basil, fragrant extra virgin olive, toasted pine nuts and the Parmesan in the pesto gave the pasta a fresh flavour!




Why Go To Spaghetti Kitchen?

• The spread of Italian Cuisine in Bangalore (or probably in India) cannot get better!
• Unbeatable prices for the awesome buffet spread.
• A great bonus is the wide vegetarian choice in the menu. Nowhere through the meal did I feel deprived of delectable vegetarian options.

Score card – On a scale of 1 to 10
Hygiene  9 / 10
Food  8 / 10
Service  8 / 10
Value for Money  10 / 10
Suggestions

• Please keep the good work going.
• Would love to see dessert choices that live up to other courses in the menu!

Location
Spaghetti Kitchen - At Hosur Road, Opposite Forum Mall at Koramangala.
Also at: 100 ft Road, Indira Nagar in Bangalore.
Special Thanks
Chef Bill Marchetti, for the lively cook off, for spending time with us and answering our queries on Italian cuisine patiently.
Sonia Praveen from PR Pundit for organising the day and helping with pictures too!

Low Fat Creamy Pasta

A Happy New Year to all.

As with every year, I have resolved to live healthy, live happy, be grateful for the nice things in life,spend more time with my kids. I am also pushing myself to find healthier food, better recipes, to share with all and do my bit for a better world. Pasta and Italian food are quite a favourite among people all over the world. We love Italian food at our home too. Based on frequent demands from my kids, I try to recreate popular dishes like pasta in bechamel (white) sauce at home. However, the amount of cheese that is required each time sends alarm bells to my nutritionist mind. While some cheese is good for children, as part of milk intake, too much of it is unhealthy.

While watching an episode of Junior Masterchef, I saw one participant using an ingredient which could substitute for part of the cheese in white sauce. I was quite excited by the idea, and tried it out soon. The first attempt was just about edible – I think I scrimped too much on the cheese. The second time, I did not get the proportions right. So this time, I thought through the proportions carefully and tried – this version was by far the best.

I am sure several of us would have started off with New Year Resolutions to reduce weight, eat healthy and so on.. Most resolutions fizzle out because we lack the will power to stick with them. Low fat food, salad – only meals, tasteless food in the name of diets – these are sure fire methods to lose our goals instead of excess weight!

I named my blog ‘Healthy Slurps’ as I firmly believe that healthy food has to be tasty too. I believe in modifying or inventing recipes which optimise the nutrients in ingredients used and are filling and healthy at the same time. This recipe is a great example. So here is my recipe for creamy, oozy, tasty pasta in white sauce minus sin.

I have given measures for 500 gm. uncooked pasta. If you plan to make a smaller batch, reduce proportions accordingly, but you could also make a big batch and freeze the rest for later.

You Need

• Pasta shells – any shape you have in stock, I used small shell – 500 gm., uncooked.
• Skim milk – 800 ml to 1000 ml.
• Whole wheat flour (atta) – 1 heaped tbsp.
• Butter – 2 tbsp., to be used in parts through the recipe.
• Processed cheese – 50 gm
• Carrot – wash peel cut into thin disks – 1 level cup
• Green or any colour capsicum – cut into thin slices – 1 level cup
• Cauliflower – 12-15 medium sized florets.
• Seasonings –1. Dry Oregano and 2. dry basil – 1 tsp each (or to taste) 3. White pepper /black pepper crushed – 1 heaped tbsp, 4. Salt – 2 tbsp.
• Fresh drinking water – 3 litre or slightly more, if needed.

To Assemble

• Boil water in a large pot, add a dab of butter, 1 tbsp salt to the boiling water and boil the pasta in it for 7-8 minutes or as per instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside in a colander.
• Blanch the cauliflower florets, drain. Heat 1/2 tsp butter in a large pan, fry the cauliflower in it for a good 3 minutes, cool and puree to smooth paste in a blender. Set aside.

• Heat 1 tbsp butter in the same  large pan used for cauliflower, stir fry the capsicum first, add carrots next, add a pinch of salt, toss well.
• In a corner of the pan, add the rest of the butter, place the whole wheat flour over the sizzling butter and fry to remove the raw smell. (takes about a minute or less). Now pour the skim milk in a thin stream over the flour, stir briskly to avoid lumps. You could use a whisk too. Mix in the vegetables and the white sauce, let simmer together until the sauce thickens and bubbles evenly. Control the flame as needed throughout.
• When the sauce thickens and bubbles, add the cauliflower puree, the cheese, and mix all well.

• After the whole mixture is homogenous, add in the seasonings, taste and adjust as per your taste.

• Now the sauce is ready to coat the pasta. Pour in the boiled pasta, toss well to coat. cover, take off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes or so for the flavours to settle.
• Tasty creamy pasta is ready to be served. I served this with warm garlic bread and a lettuce - cherry tomato salad in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.
  

Notes

The amount of cauliflower used for the puree is important – too much and it tastes like cauliflower soup, too little and it does not thicken well enough. Sautéing the cauliflower in butter makes sure that the taste does not overpower the other flavours in the sauce.

You can use the same sauce for lasagne or for a macaroni hot pot – spread some more grated cheese as top layer and bake as you normally would.

You can use more vegetables like broccoli, sweet corn kernels, baby corn, zucchini, even black olives if you like. ( I like black olives with a tangy tomato sauce )

You can sprinkle a tsp. or more of grated cheese on top while serving kids. Grated Parmesan tastes great. While Parmesan is not strictly ‘vegetarian’, use it if you feel comfortable.

What’s good about this pasta dish?

The most obvious advantage in this recipe is the limited use of cheese in the sauce. This recipe makes 8 –9 portions of pasta. 50 gms of cheese added here will amount to 6 gms per person – the quantities normally used would range from 30 –35 gms per portion. 

This means that, whatever cheese you have used in your recipe, you can cut down the fat content by 5 –6 times.

Despite cutting down on the cheese, the sauce does not lose out on creaminess, mouth feel or flavours – so we do not feel ‘deprived.’

Adding more vegetables to the dish or serving it with a stir fry or salad, as in my case, makes it a complete meal.

I have used butter optimally without indulging in excess.

I have used whole wheat flour as a thickener too as against refined corn flour or all-purpose flour (maida).

While processed cheese is not the best, I have used it here to show how despite an ordinary cheese, the sauce and the meal does taste great. Also processed cheese is most widely available in India. Feel free to use reduced fat – mozzarella in your recipe.

Do let me know if you liked the recipe, and do come back with your feedback after you have tried it out.