Pasta and mashed potatoes

This funny looking thing was our dinner last night. :) That's pasta and mashed potatoes. I made the pasta with red cabbage and carrots, and being the hard core non-vegetarian that I am, added a bit of tuna too just for the taste. I then topped it with mashed potatoes and baked the dish before serving. I don't have those piping bags so made one with tin foil for piping the potato. Use and throw - excellent! :)

This dish was one of those experiments that actually worked. I used red cabbage and carrots. Peas would have been really good too in this, but I don't like them so didn't use them. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

1. Red cabbage, shredded - 2 cups
2. Carrot, grated - 1 cup
3. Onion, finely sliced - 1
4. Green chillies, sliced - 2
5. Tuna - 1 tin
6. Ginger Garlic paste - 1 tbsp
7. Potatoes - 2 large
8. Tomatoes - 2 large
9. Chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Soya Sauce - 1 tbsp
12. Tomato puree - 2 tbsp
13. Chicken/Vegetable stock cubes - 1
14. Oregano (dried)
15. Salt
16. Pepper
17. Olive oil
18. Vegetable/Sunflower oil

Method:

1. To make the potatoes

• Cook the potatoes in salted water till soft.
• Mash the potatoes and add a dash of olive oil, salt, pepper and a sprinkle of oregano.
• Whisk the potatoes till they are of a nice creamy texture.

2. To make the pasta

• Heat some oil. To it, add the tuna, ginger garlic paste, chilli powder, turmeric powder and salt and saute till dry.
• Add the carrots and cabbage and mix well. Saute till all the moisture disappears and the cabbage starts frying. Keep aside
• Cook the pasta in salted boiling water for about 10 minutes till done. Drain the pasta and pour cold water through it so the pasta does not stick together.
• In another pan, heat some oil and saute the onions and green chilli. Add the stock cube, soya sauce, tomatoes, tomato puree and cook till the oil separates. To this, add the cabbage cooked earlier and mix well. Then add the pasta and mix thoroughly. Add some water to keep it moist.
• Pour this mixture into a casserole dish or baking bowl.

3. The final step

• Preheat oven to 180°C.
• Spread the mashed potatoes on the pasta and bake for 30 minutes.