Pasta with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Fresh Herbs

I have been cooking pasta for about ten years now. I font even remember how it used to taste like but I probably can not even eat the first pasta I ever cooked. After all we are not all born gifted. Although, pasta is a simple dish to cook in my opinion it is tricky to male one. I manage to get some clues from the itallian fair on how to cook the dry pasta. Apparently for all those years I have been over cooking the pasta and it turns if it is cooked al dente pasta would be more delicious and al dente is also good for your digestive system. You want to have a big pan preferably tall one especially if you are making spaghetti with loads of water to cook the pasta. The pasta should be able to move freely in the pot. You don't want to put oil into the pasta water but you want to add some salt into the water. Also another common mistake is not waiting for the water to boil perfectly. You want the cook the pasta in a boiling  water not hot or warm water. Now I don't want to mislead with saying that I boil my pasta for 5 - 8 mins because there is so many different pasta varieties out there and I don't think I am an authority to make a generalisation on that but I would say make sure it is al dente check the instructions on the pasta package if necessary and taste your pasta to check whether it is done.

Tips for cooking the dry pasta:

• use a big pot
• add good amount of water check the packaging of the pasta for instructions
• do not add oil to the boiling water
• add salt before adding dry pasta
• cook the pasta al dente 

Pasta

I was searching on the web for a good mushroom sauce. Most of them are using bacon in the sauce so i decided to add a meaty flavor which in my opinion can be added with using asparagus. And this recipe turned out to be very chili i don't think Italians would appreciate spicy pasta:) The  Crème fraiche  was very sour so to mask its taste i had to add a strong flavor. I would use double cream instead as a sauce.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus

Ingredients : (2 serving ) 

• Dry spagetti for two (from the instructions on the package split the pasta)
• 4 button mushrooms
• 5 chestnut mushrooms
• 8 asparagus tips
• 1 spanish onion
• 3 garlic cloves 
• 3 tbsp olive oil<\li>
• 125 ml crème fraiche (i would use single or double cream instead  crème fraiche  was very sour)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)
• 1 bird eye chili (optional)
• salt for taste 
• 15 grams of fresh dill for garnish
• 15 grams of fresh  flat leaf parsley for garnish

Reci. pe:

1. put 1 LT water to a large Pam and bring it to boil 
2. chop the mushrooms and dice the onions 
3. wash and finely chop the dill and parsley and set aside 
4. add the olive oil and onions to a nonstick pot, stir and cook until they are brown
5. add the mushrooms and let it cook until the mushrooms loose their juice 
6. when the water started the boil add some salt and the dry pasta with the help of a fork twist the pasta into the water
7. let it cook for 5-8 mins and check it to see if it is done you want it to be cooked al dente 
8. drain the pasta and set aside
9. add the cremè   fraiche  or double cream to the mushrooms  and let it boil for 3-5 minutes 
10. add black peppers and chili to  the sauce
11. add the pasta into the mushroom sauce and mix let it boil with the sauce for 15 -30 seconds 
12. boil or steam asparagus until tender, i boiled them for 2-3 mins
13. serve the pasta in mushroom sauce and place asparagus on top and sprinkle some  dill and parsley

Ingredients chestnut mushrooms, button mushrooms, asparagus, crème fraiche, onion, garlic, dill, flat leaf parsley

Turkish Ravioli (Manti) with Mushroom Filling

I am not big on blogging world but every once in a while i read through blogs. So far i can state that the women bloggers tend to give recipes on their blogs. To validate my assumption, i wont break the tradition and give a recipe of vegetarian manti. For those who are not familiar with manti it is fresh pasta with ground beef filling. It is a traditional food and you should definitely eat if you are planning to visit Turkey. I don't know if it is purely Turkish or originated from middle east though. But yeah i changed the recipe a little and used a whole wheat flour, and used a vegetarian filling instead of ground beef. That made the manti a little bigger in size than it should be but you can make the filling more smooth with a food processor and come up with smaller sizes. The smaller the size is the better. It kinda shows how professional you are on making manti. And the other difficulty i came across was working with whole wheat flour. I used a regular whole wheat flour and when i mixed it with a liquid it was very sticky. i would recommend the all purpose flour. If you can find, get the ones made for pasta. (And to be honest regular flour tastes better:))

What you need for dough:

1. 1 egg

2. 2 cups of flour (i used whole wheat, you can go for all purpose)

3. Water

Ingredients for filling

1. finely chopped small onion

2. finely chopped portobello mushroom (any mushroom will do the job)

3. 1 green chilli

4. finely chopped parsley

5. grated mozzarella cheese

7. pinch of salt, freshly grounded black pepper, dried rosemary

8. two table spoons of olive oil

Before starting dough making, prepare the filling. You need to cook the onion first with olive oil then add the rest. Be creative with the filling, add the flavours you like. And to add the mozzarella you need to wait until the cooked ingredients cooled down.

So you need to mix the ingredients for the dough until you get something feels like dough. it shouldn't be very sticky. You will be rolling out the dough, so you want it to have a smooth consistency. If the dough looks too big then divide it into pieces and roll out the pieces. Then make square pieces from rolled dough with knife and put the filling inside the squares. Pull the opposite sides of the squares together and stick them to one another (that process takes forever). After you are done you can bake them and cook in a boiling water or without baking freshly cook them in boiling water.

And be creative with the sauce, traditional Turkish sauce for manti is yoghurt mixed with crushed garlic and melted butter with powder red pepper is added on top.

afiyet olsun...

P.S. comment below if you know where manti is originated from.