The forbidden love

We all know of stories how people from different background fall in love heads over heel with each other and have to fight their family tooth and nail for this love. We know a friend or a friend’s friend who had suffered the exact same story. Some end up being together for the eternity (dead or alive) and for some it remains yet another story which never came to fruition. But how many of us know of grandfathers and grandmothers with such stories?

What really instigated me to write this story is about that the fact that we all talk about love marriages and people falling in love heads over heel like it is a recent concept. But it is not. It must not be. I am sure people would have been falling in love with each other all the time even when arranged marriages were a dictum and love marriages a heresy. And when you hear of a sixty year old recounting her falling in love, not just love but forbidden love, and marrying the man of her dreams… It is sure to be of interest to everyone.

Well this story is about such a couple who fought everyone (well not literally! This isn’t Pardes) for their love… and ended up being together. This is a post for Get Published contest at Indiblogger. An initiative between Indiblogger and HarperCollins

Tangy Italian red pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients for pasta sauce

4-5 cloves garlic

3 Green chillies, finely chopped

50 grams Amul butter

50 ml Del monte olive oil

100 gms finely diced green and yellow capsicum

250 gms finely chopped red onion

100 gms Del monte corn

100 gms Baby corn

100 gms diced mushrooms

200 ml tomato puree

1 can tomatoes

100 gms cream cheese

1 teaspoon thyme

2 teaspoon Oregano

2 tablespoon Del monte Arrabbiata Pasta sauce

Salt to taste

 Ingredients for garlic bread

2 cloves of garlic, finely crushed

50 gms Amul butter

Bread

Ingredients for pasta

300 gms of Del monte pasta of your choice

Preparing the sauce

• Pour olive oil in the pan
• Add onion to the hot oil
• After about 2 mins of cooking; add capsicum, green chillies and mushrooms to the onion
• After 5 mins of cooking, add puree and canned tomatoes and break them roughly with ladle
• Add pasta sauce, thyme and teaspoon of oregano to the mix. Let it simmer for 10 mins
• Once the mix is cooked; add cheese, corn and baby corn to the mixture
• Add salt to taste

Preparing garlic bread

• Add garlic paste to the butter
• Slice the loaf diagonally
• Coat the butter-garlic mix on two sides of loaf
• Heat the loaf on the pan till golden brown

Preparing the pasta

• I prefer to use elbow macaroni. Though the recipe works equally well for all varieties be it penne, spaghetti, fusilli, fettuccini etc. No layered pasta though
• Pasta takes approx. 15 mins on a boiling water to reach al-dente stage
• You can judge when the pasta is done by taking out a piece and biting on it. If it feels firm and soft at the same time and doesn’t taste raw or floury when chewed, it is done
• Add boiled pasta to the simmering mixture and let it cook for about five minutes

Serving

• Place the pasta in the center of a bowl
• Sprinkle oregano and place garlic bread on side
• Serve piping hot

Tips

1. Time the pasta so that it is taken off the stove just as the sauce is prepared so that you can strain it straight into the pot. Makes the infusion of flavors much more easier
2. If you have to keep the pasta strained for some time… make sure you cool it as soon as it is taken off the heat so that the pasta doesn’t get overcooked in its own heat
3. Add the cream cheese towards the end so that it provides a creamy smoothness to the pasta but doesn’t get cooked too much
4. Make sure the ingredients are not cooked too much or else they won’t stand out in the pasta
5. I personally don’t like olives. But if you don’t mind them, you can put some 6-7 pieces of coarsely chopped pitted Del Monte black olives when adding cheese to the mix

This is a post for Del Monte Blogger Recipe Carnival contest at Indiblogger - An initiative between Indiblogger and Del Monte