Green Bell Pepper Fettuccine

As promised, here it is:

You'll note is very similar to my Fettucine with poblano chile sauce. It's not a coincidence, as both are based on the same use of cottage cheese as a creamy, thick base. The green pepper one I made sooner, after several iterations.

Ingredients:

250 gr. Fettuccine cooked to taste
2 Green bell peppers cut in bite-sized pieces, divided
1/2 Onion, chopped
2 Cloves of garlic, minced, divided
2 Scoops, about 220 gr. cottage cheese
1/2 Cup skim milk
1 Teaspoon oregano
1/3 Teaspoon dried pesto
1/3 Teaspoon fine herbs
1 Cup finely shredded green cabbage
1 Cup soybean sprouts
2 Teaspoons olive oil
2 1/2 Teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 cup of water

Preparation:

First heat up 1 teaspoon olive oil and add one (1) of the green bell peppers, plus a little bit of the chopped onion. Saute until the bell pepper is a little burnt (the onion will brown and go limp sooner). When they're done, let it cool for a few minutes. You can cook the pasta at the same time.

Once they've cooled enough, say till they're only warm to the touch, put them in a blender with 1 clove of garlic, the cottage cheese, milk and a pinch each of oregano, fine herbs and dry pesto. You know what comes next, don't you? That's right: Liquefy throroughly. Set it aside.

In a deep saucepan or wok heat up 1 teaspoon olive oil and add the rest of the onion and 1 clove of garlic. Saute for a few minutes. Add the cabbage, soybean sprouts and the other bell pepper and stir fry until you achieve the desired softness for your veggies.

Set heat to low and add the sauce you blended. Mix well. Add the oregano, fine herbs and pesto and stir some more. Let it come to a slow boil. When you see any bubbles, add the cornstarch dissolved in water. Keep stirring until large bubbles form.

Now you can either add the sauce to the fettuccine, or the fettuccine to the sauce. It works out the same thing. Let it cool a bit and serve.

Oh, there's a  reason to cook the bell pepper before blending it. Raw bell peppers have a very subtle flavor. When you cook them in a bit of oil, the flavor becomes stronger and mixes better with the other ingredients. I first tried 1 raw pepper for the whole recipe, half in the blender, half sauteed with he other vegetables. I found the sauce barely tasted of green bell pepper.

So naturally in the next go round I used a whole pepper in the sauce. I got the same result. So I gave up on the recipe. But a few days later while eating something else I cooked (I forget what exactly), I noticed sauteed peppers tasted more strongly of bell pepper. Then I decided to try again.

It just goes to show you should experiment and pay attention to the things you eat. How they taste, what texture they have, what color, etc. You never know when one thing can work in another recipe.

Oh, as a bonus here's a photo of part of my kitchen. As you can see, it's a working kitchen :)

I love the overhead light on the GE stove

Fettucine with Poblano Chile Sauce

This is a new recipe I tried out today. I was going to make Enchiladas, but I forgot to get tortillas. Some other time.

I based this on an older recipe I've yet to post. It's a very versatile base, which serves well for creamy, yet low-fat pasta sauces. It's a bit odd, in that it uses cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

250 gr. fettuccine cooked to taste
5 Green tomatoes without husks
200 gr. of Pobalno chile rajas ("rajas" are thin strips of chile, usually Poblano, sauteed with a little oil; I buy mine frozen at any local supermarket), these are to be divided in half.
2 Cloves of garlic
1 Chicken bullion cube, low-fat and low-sodium
4 Cilantro branches, stems and all (you can remove the leaves from the stems; I find the stems as good as the leaves)
2 Scoops or about 220 gr. cottage cheese, either regular or low-fat.
1/3 Teaspoon powdered cumin
2 Tablespoons oregano.

1/2 Onion cut into thin slices and separated into rings
1 Teaspoon olive oil
2 Teaspoons corn starch, dissolved in 1/3 cup of water.

Place the green tomatoes whole in boiling water until they begin to change color. Get them out and place them in a bowl with ice water for a few minutes. When getting tomatoes, or anything else, in and out of a pot of boiling water, remember to be cautious. I use a slotted spoon.

Quarter the tomatoes and remove the core (not the seeds), then toss them in the blender with a trickle of water. Liquefy the tomatoes. With the blender off, add 1 clove of garlic, half the Chile Poblano in rajas, all the cottage cheese, cilantro and chicken bullion cube. Liquefy everything thoroughly.

In a deep saucepan, heat the olive oil. Once it's heated, add the onion and 1 minced clove of garlic. Saute until the onions begin to turn flexible. Add the rest of the Chile Poblano and cook for one more minute; you just want to soften them a little. Remove from the heat and let the pan cool for a few minutes.

When the saucepan cools, put it on the stove on low heat and add the sauce from the blender. Bring to a boil while stirring on occasion. When you begin to see bubbles forming, add the cumin and oregano and stir well (BTW I like to crush the dry oregano leaves before adding them to the mix). When the sauce begins to boil, or when larger bubbles form, add the corn starch dissolved in water. This last is a thickening agent only. If you think the sauce is thick enough, you may not want to add it. Keep on the flame for one or two more minutes, then pour the sauce over the pasta.

Please note that Poblano chiles are considered to be very mild, but some varieties can be quite hot. If you prepare the rajas yourself, think about removing the veins and seeds first. And try them before cooking, too, whether you make them or get them frozen, so you can decide how hot the dish will be.

As I said near the beginning, I like mixing cottage cheese and corn starch with liquefied vegetables in order to make creamy, low-fat sauces. In the future I'll post similar recipes, like Green Bell Pepper Pasta Sauce, and Elbow Macaroni with Chipotle Sauce.

As always, comments are welcome.