The comfort food

This is that time of the year when I take stock of my life. Two successive months of revelry — filled with fun and food —lead me to a state of ennui in February. By the middle of the month, I feel I have had enough — and promise myself that I am going to go off everything that’s heavy and difficult to digest.

And so I turn to pastas. I see pastas as comfort food — easy to cook and good to eat. Even though it can be heavy with cream and cheese, you actually feel light at the end of the day. And when it’s tarted up with colourful vegetables, you even think you are getting your year’s supplement of vitamins and minerals.

What’s interesting is that pastas are becoming more and more popular with Indians. Not only do you get instant pasta in packets, the more interesting and delicious kinds of pastas are now easily available in top restaurants and hotels. Some months ago, when I was in Kolkata, I was told that the coffee shop of The Park was going for a renovation and extension — and a new menu. The other day, I found that the menu included various kinds of pastas and risottos.

My favourite, of course, is the aglio olio, which the chefs at The Park prepare with whole wheat spaghetti. While I also enjoy an occasional pasta dish cooked with cream, butter, eggs and cheese — such as a red spinach and Kalimpong cheese ravioli that executive chef Sharad Dewan excels in — what I really love is pasta lightly sautéed with pressed garlic in olive oil and tempered with chilli flakes, which is what the aglio olio is all about. I got this recipe from my brother-in-law long years ago (he insists that I credit him every time I mention it!) and find that it is really a great comfort food.

I suppose one reason why pasta works well as comfort food is the fact that it fills you up without putting you in a state of frenzy. Now that different kinds of dry pasta are all there in the markets, all that you have to do to prepare it at home is to cook a sauce and bung the pasta in it. It’s pure starch — and that’s one of the requirements for comfort food, for it gives you a feeling of sated, well-being. Carbohydrates are also easy to digest — so that’s another reason why it rates high as comfort food.

Take something like pasta with pesto Genovese — which has such a simple recipe that you can work on it with your eyes shut. Here, the pesto sauce is all important — but even that is an easy procedure and works out very well (see recipe) if your ingredients are right.

Of course, pasta can be simple, but doesn’t have to be Spartan. The Bucatini pescatora with saffron bouillabaisse (see recipe), for instance, is a wonderful dish consisting of prawns, squids and bekti with pasta cooked in a lobster stock.

While you can go to town with the sauce, you have to be careful about your pasta. Chef Dewan’s tips are simple —and if you follow them, I am sure your pasta will never be sticky or overdone.

Fill a large pot with lots of water — the pasta will be sticky if there is not enough water in the pot. Then remember to bring the water to a rolling boil — which means it doesn’t stop boiling when you stir it. Add salt to the water, and when you put your pasta into it, remember that pasta generally doubles in size when cooked.

Take a piece out to see if the pasta is cooked. It should be firm, but tender. But ensure that there’s no solid white in the centre of the pasta. And don’t rinse the pasta if you are serving a hot dish.

If you, like me, have been overdosing on the all the sinful things of life this festive season, take a break. And pastas, I am sure, will help you recoup — so that you are all ready for the next festive season.

Bucatini pescatora with saffron bouillabaisse (serves 1)

Ingredients: 20ml olive oil, 20g chopped onions, 5g finely chopped garlic, 4 peeled prawns (about 70g), 50g diced bekti, 70g squid rings, 20ml white wine, 60g shredded basil, salt to taste, crushed black pepper to taste, 80g bucatini pasta, 4 crushed black olives, 10g lobster stock cube, 80g broccoli, 25g saffron, 10g chopped parsley, 30g cherry tomatoes, olive oil for marinating, lemon juice for marinating, a pinch of cheese, 10g spinach shreds

Method: Dissolve the saffron strands in warm water. Wash and clean the seafood and marinate separately in olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Cut the broccoli into florets and blanch. In olive oil, sauté onions and garlic till soft. Add the marinated prawns and squids and sauté. Deglaze with white wine. Dissolve the lobster stock cube in hot water and add to the sautéed seafood. Add the water with saffron. Remove the cooked prawns and squids from this to avoid overcooking. Lower in the seasoned bekti. Lighten with cream and add the broccoli. Add the cherry tomatoes and crushed black olives and cook, taking care not to break the bekti. Season the sauce and add shredded basil and chopped parsley. Add par-boiled pasta and the prawns and squids. Finish with a little cheese, spinach shreds and some freshly grated black pepper. Toss well and serve. Garnish with a basil sprig and a grilled baguette slice.

Trofie with pesto Genovese (serves 1)

Ingredients: For the pesto: 30g basil leaves, 15g pine nuts, 5g minced garlic, 40ml virgin olive oil, 5g crushed black pepper, salt to taste

For the pasta: 70g trofie pasta, 40g sun-dried tomatoes, 25ml cream, 10g butter

Method: For the pesto, wash basil leaves and churn in a food processor with toasted pine nuts while pouring olive oil in slow stream till well mixed. Mix all the remaining ingredients and blend until puréed coarsely. Adjust seasonings. Now heat cream in a pan. Add the basil pesto and gently melt. Blanch the pasta separately in boiling salted water. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and boiled pasta to the sauce. Turn off the heat and mount with butter to finish the sauce. Garnish with a grilled baguette slice and parmesan flakes.


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