Vermicelli Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino

Fresh pasta in a simple herb dressing is divine. Last time I used the fettuccine attachment in the pasta maker, sot this time I had to play around with the vermicelli attachment. On the first try, I made the pasta sheet a little too thin, and the vermicelli strands ended up sticking together and turning into a lump. So while making vermicelli, thin the pasta sheet to level 5 on the machine, and keep it well floured at each turn. The dressing for a pasta is a simple olive oil infused with garlic, red chilies and parsley.

Ingredients

Pasta

• 2 cups fine semolina
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• salt to taste

Dressing

• 2 dried red chilies, thickly sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 small bunch parsley, chopped
• 6 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Make a soft dough with the pasta ingredients, and add a little water if its too dry. Pound and knead the dough down to release the gluten.
2. Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
3. Heat the olive oil in a thick bottomed pan, and add the garlic. 
4. Cook for a minute and add the red chilies. Fry for another minute and take off the heat.
5. Add the parsley, stir around and leave aside to infuse for at least 30 minutes.
6. Take the dough out of the fridge, and knead down again. Split into two sections and roll out one on a floured surface. 
7. Lightly flour the dough on both sides and roll through the pasta machine. Keep flouring both sides of the pasta sheet after each roll.
8. Once the pasta sheet is rolled out to level 5 (around 0.5 cm), run through the vermicelli attachment. Toss the vermicelli strands lightly to separate them out and add some flour to keep them from sticking. Repeat with remaining dough.
9. Heat a pan of salted water and once boiling, add the vermicelli strands. Shake lightly to separate out each strand and cook for 1 minute, until the vermicelli is just cooked.
10. Drain, and while still warm, toss in the dressing. Add a tablespoon of the cooking liquor and toss around to make sure that the dressing evenly covers the vermicelli strands.
11. Tuck in immediately with a little bread to mop up the dressing.

Butter Garlic Prawns

There's this place that recently opened up in Bangalore, Mahesh Lunch Home, which makes a fantastic Crab in Butter-Garlic. Its rich and buttery, and perfectly complements the sweetness of the crab. I've been meaning to make this for quite some time, but never could find crabs at the local store, so I substituted them with prawns. The texture may differ, but it has that sweetness that works wonderfully with the crisp garlic. I've also added some red chili flakes and pepper to add specks of heat to cut through the sweetness. Its great with some lightly salted rice.

Ingredients

• 10-12 medium prawns, shelled and deveined
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4-5 peppercorns, ground
• 1 dried red chili with flakes, finely chopped
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Method

1. Add the red chili and some salt to the prawns, and rub it into the prawns. Set aside to marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Heat the oil in a pan, and add the butter.
3. Let the butter foam and add the garlic.
4. Once the garlic releases its aroma, add the pepper and chopped red chili. 
5. Stir around once and add the prawns and salt to taste.
6. Cook the prawns till they turn a light pink and take off the heat.
7. Let the prawns rest for 5 minutes in the pan, then remove and place it on a bed of rice.
8. Pour the butter-garlic sauce over the rice. Add a dash of lime and tuck in.