Diary of a Pastaholic : Fettuccine Shrimp Fra Diablo

Among my family and close friends, I am well known for my obsession for anything and everything that is to do with pasta. Baked, fried, sautéed - my addiction for it has no boundaries. There are times when I will travel to uncharted territories just to find the ultimate pasta dish (although most definitely Italy is not within the range where I can travel to at this point of time).

One of my favourites back then was a dish served in Italiannies, One Utama. However, it has been recently taken off the menu for reasons unknown, even when I made enquiries with the staff. Ever since then, I have been looking high and low within the Klang Valley area, dragging my "mobile bank" with me and subjecting him to many pasta tasting sessions when in fact, he is not even a pasta fan at all (yes, I know, I can be cruel sometimes). After many frustrating expeditions, in which I have failed to acquire the same dish that I crave for, I finally decided to make it on my own. Hence the current post.

Here comes the recipe :


Fettuccine Shrimp Fra Diablo
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Ingredients:
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1 packet 500gm fettuccine (cooked as per instruction on the packet)
3 tbs. Olive Oil
12 Large Peeled Shrimp (deveined and leave the tails intact)
3 tbs. Chopped Garlic
1 large Bombay (yellow) Onions - Diced
1/4 cup Blanched Asparagus
1/2 cup Raw Spinach
3 tbs. Toasted Pine Nuts ( raw pine nuts can be bought in selected supermarkets then fried without oil at a low heat until they turn golden brown )
6 Diced Large and Juicy Tomatoes
2 tbs. tomatoo puree
1/3 cup Cream
2 tbs. sweet soya sauce
3 tbs. light soya sauce
1/4 cup Crumbled Goat Cheese (feta cheese)
1 tsp. Chopped Parsley & Spring Onions
2 tsp. paprika
Pepper to Taste


Method:
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1. Preheat pan and add the olive oil and shrimp. Add some paprika and sauté until pink and opaque on the outside. Once cooked, remove from pan and set it aside to rest.
2. Add the garlic, onions, and some pine nuts. Add a dash of pepper. Sauté until fragrant or onions became trasparent.
3. Add the tomatoes. Cook until it resembles a sauce. Add tomato puree followed by the cream. Reduce to medium heat and simmer until slightly thickened.
4. Add the light and sweet soya sauces - to taste. Add the asparagus, spinach and the remaining pine nuts. Lastly, add the cooked shrimps. Cover the pan for 2 minutes or until spinach stars to wilt.
5. Add the cooked fettuccine and allow the pasta to heat for one minute while stirring gently to heat the pasta evenly.
6. Lift the pasta out of the pan. Top with the sauce, crumbled goat cheese, a dash of paprika and
chopped parsley with spring onions.
7. Best serve hot.


*Note : I often use soya sauce to substitute sugar and salt. It adds an Asian twist to it.



Result wise?? I believe I have satisfied many hungry tummies that day, although I can't be too sure whether the compliments received were genuine enough - they are afterall, my family. They have no choice but to support me anyway ;).

I know they say that a picture paint a thousand words. Well then, let's have them speak for themselves, shall we ??



**P/S : My apologies for the low quality pictures. Obviously I require a camera with a higher resolution in order to obtain better results *Cough, cough* Am a Libran...**hint, hint ;)

The Promise

Last week I finally managed to spare some time to make a very much overdue visit to see the lovely and adorable baby 'Ash' (leave it to me to 'orang-putihkan' the baby's name. Note to the very proud parents - jangan marah ahhh ;p). After the numerous 'janji-janji kosong' of meeting up and the many cancelled appointments, I finally secured an evening off and took the opportunity to visit Ina & Mir at their lovely crib in Bukit Jalil. This time I took my small little 'entourage' with me, consisting of Patti, Nana & Nino, since hubby is away AGAIN in the eastern cost of peninsular Malaysia in the name of, what else, work of course. After work on Friday eve, I made a quick stop at Bukit Jelutong to pick up the ladies and made a dash for the kesas highway as to avoid the ugly traffic jam over at the Puchong area. Safe to say, my aunts now have very, very high regards over those people commuting in and out of Kuala Lumpur in their cars. The 'pesta lampu merah' over at the Kinrara route to Bukit Jalil really opened up their eyes to the possibility of the existence of life 'outside' the safe haven of Shah Alam town.

I once made a promise to Mir that I would cook for him again when time permits me and I guess Mir has decided to claim for the said promise. Furthermore, I needed to make it up to Ina & Mir for not being able to attend to baby Ash's 'cukur jambul' ceremony a couple of weeks ago in Ipoh due to my commitments. So, there I was that evening, with entourage - ever so ready to bring down the house with my signature dish - what else, PASTA of course!!

Spicy Seafood Spaghetti

Ingredients:

Prawns and Squid ( cleaned ) – you may substitute for chicken meat if you want to.
Olive oil - 4 spoonful Spagetthi (500 gm) - 1 packet
Processed chili (cili boh/mesin) – 1 spoonful (add more if you want it hotter!)
Garlic (crushed with the back of the knife) - 3 cloves
Large Onion (roughly sliced) - 1 pc
Ginger (peeled and sliced) - 1/2 inch
Bird's Eye Chili (cili padi - sliced in two)- 7 pcs
Vietnamese Mint Leaves (daun kesom) - 5-7 pieces
Kaffir Lime leaves (daun limau purut, roughly torn) - 3 pcs
Ripe Tomatoes ( roughly chopped ) - 3 pcs
Baby corn (sliced) - 4 pcs
Snow peas (ends taken off) - 7 pcs
Red Capsicum (sliced thinly) - 1 pc
Carrot (sliced) - 1 pc
Straw mushroom (sliced in half) – 1 can
Oyster Sauce -1 tablespoon
Sweet Soya Sauce - 3 spoonful
Light Soya Sauce - 2 spoonful
A dash of pepper & mixed herb

Method:

1. Prepare the spaghetti as per instruction on packet(boil with a little bit of oil and salt until a la dante).
2. In a large hot wok (kuali), heat up the oil.
3. Add in garlic, onion, ginger, cili padi and fry until fragrant (or onions turn transparent).
4. Add in daun kesom and daun limau purut).
5. Next, add in cili boh and the seafood, followed by the chopped tomatoes.
6. Add in the vegetables – baby corn, snow peas and capsicum. Lastly the mushroom.
7. Then came the sauces – oyster, sweet and light soya.
8. Add in the spaghetti. Mixed it up well.
9. Serve it hot with a dash of pepper and mixed herb.

*Note : If its lacking sweetness or saltiness, just add in a bit more sweet or light soya sauce. End result, there should be a harmonious mix of sweet and spicy with a lttle of 'zing' from the Vietnamese mint leaves.

I asked Mir to buy a bottle of sparkling red grape juice, just to get us in the ' Italian' mood (yelah, since we cannot consume alcohol kan, asalkan botol die nampak macam wine pun jadik la). I cannot very well tell you if the dinner was a huge success or whether the pasta turn out to be everyone's cup of tea, or not. What would anyone think of me then if I were to rate my own cooking? Sungguh tidak professional betul.

Instead, I shall let the pictures speak for themselves ;p..hehehehehhe