Pasta With Capsicum And Mushroom, Served With Chicken In A Tomato-Almond Paste.

There is something oddly comforting about pasta - maybe it's the fact that it's so ridiculously easy to cook, maybe it's the fact that it's so versatile, or maybe it's just the fact that it's so darned tasty. Whatever the case may be - pasta is something I cook every once in a while, and tonight, I decided to experiment a bit.

Here's my recipe for Pasta with Capsicum, Baby Corn and Mushroom, served with Chicken in a Tomato-Almond paste.

Ingredients:

For the paste:

2 tomatoes, 1/2 bowl almonds (soaked in warm water for 1 hour), 2 tspn. fennel seeds (mouri).

For the chicken:

1 tspn ginger-garlic paste, 1 finely chopped onion, 500 gms. chicken, 2 tbspn. red wine, salt and pepper to taste.

For the pasta:

1 capsicum, 200 gms. mushrooms, baby corn (sliced down the middle and cut diagonally), a bit of red chilli powder, required quantity of fusilli pasta, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, cheese spread (or grated cheese).

How To Make It:

1. Cut tomatoes into quarters, saute with a little butter. Add fennel seeds, cook till tomatoes become mushy. Grind the tomato-fennel seed mush with the softened almonds, till you get a thick paste.

2. Set the pasta on boil with a little salt.

3. Fry onion and ginger-garlic paste, add salt, pepper, and the tomato-almond paste, then stir. Add chicken and 2 teaspoons of red wine, and let it simmer on low flame.

4. Saute the mushrooms, baby corn, and capsicum with a pinch of salt.

5. Once the pasta's boiled, drain it, and add to the vegetables. Add tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and a little red chilli powder. Stir well.

6. When the pasta's cooked, put it into a flat serving bowl, drizzle some cheese spread (or add the grated cheese) on it, and bake at 120 degrees for 20 minutes, till the cheese is golden-brown and sizzling. Serve with chicken, and bread-rolls, if you'd like them.