The Sugar Bar

Some people may not forgive me for this but oops, I went and did it anyway. Personally, I cannot have my pasta with anything but a light sauce like white wine, balsamic vinegar and good olive oil or drowned in the heaviest, richest tomato-based sauce. Anything else doesn’t sound like pasta to me but I didn’t have any tomato puree or sauce or pesto and I’d randomly seen a yoghurt pasta recipe today. Curiousity killed the cat. That’s the general saying.

I was kind of killed with this — not in a good way. It was nice, I’ll give it that. But I don’t think I was actually eating a proper dish of pasta and I doubt I’ll make it again except maybe with fresh herbs to bring out the flavour better.

I added chilli because it reminded me of a curry. And yoghurt helps to cool the tongue if it gets too fiery. I don’t know if I did the right thing. I loved the lemony, basil-y flavour of this pasta dish and you’ve gotta use a sweet apple like Braeburn or Gala to really get the flavours going. It smells great, that’s another pro. But at the end of it, it just isn’t pasta like I know it.

On the brighter side of things, exams are over! They were officially over and done with at half 12 today A huge burden off my shoulders for now. This also means I have more time to work on this Sugar Bar. I whoop for joy. A setback though is I won’t be able to bake sweet yummies for a while till after 5 June as the girls and I have agreed to watch our diets and sugar intake, so I’m forbidden to make anything that will compromise our waistlines.

It’s absolute torture but since we’ve agreed, I gotta stick to it. Someone weep for me, please.

Here’s a serving for 1.

Yoghurt & Lemon Pasta with Plum Tomatoes & Apples
Ingredients

70g pasta shells
2 medium sized plum tomatoes, sliced
1/4 cup chopped Braeburn apples
1 tbs green chilli, finely chopped
3 tsp plain yoghurt
1 1/2 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
cracked black pepper, for seasoning
tiniest bit of salt, for seasoning

Cook the pasta till al dente and strain away the water, returning pasta shells to saucepan.
Reduce the heat to its lowest setting, stir into the pasta the yoghurt, juice, herbs, tomatoes, apples and chilli. Give it a good stir and keep it on that low heat for about 10-20seconds just making sure the yoghurt is heated through. Add the seasoning to your desired taste. You don’t want this to be salty as you want to keep the general flavour of the lemon and yoghurt.

You can opt for fresh herbs which will you give you a better blast of flavours. Serve on plate with a lemon slice.

I have to apologise for the great lack of posts recently. The end of term for me is always marked by a torrent of essays, assignments and projects. That has eaten so much of my time I’ve hardly had time to post about my culinary wars, Pancake Day, Chinese New Year and Scottish Burns Night. I will definitely find time, once these massive essays and research project are out of the way, to post up all the pictures that have been long overdue.

Naan Bread Day occurred mainly because I was itching for something savoury. Although Marmite on toast is It for me – it’s so lush, I have to admit I was getting sick of it that particular day I made naan (I don’t remember when this was either…I only remember I’d decided to really make it because I needed a break from essay writing). Watching someone make naan on TV is a tad bit different from making it yourself. You may know the technique perfectly well but somehow mine just turned out a little wrong anyway. They tasted great, that’s for sure but looked like pitta breads! That still confuses me but it might have something to do with my recipe not using any yeast at all. I’ll definitely find a more authentic Indian recipe the next time I attempt naan bread.

Here’s what I used: Flour, 1/2 tsp salt,1 1/2tsp sugar, milk n oil and some baking powder. The dough was left in a warm oven (note: not hot) for it to double in size and then kneaded thereafter till the dough became smooth and stretchy. All the time you’re working with the dough, it must be kept warm. Any dough not being worked on should be covered with clingfoil or a cheese cloth. Roll into balls, use a rolling pin and flatten out nice and thin. Place on a baking tray that’s been brushed with some water. Garnish the naan with whatever you like – herbs, black onion seeds, poppy seeds, etc. Place under the grill for 1-2min. This happens real quick so be careful not to burn. Take it out. Whip out the butter and serve!