Bow-tie Pasta with Rich Creamy Tomato Sauce
Its been said that when life gives you lemons you make lemonade. When you do that, good things will happen to you seemingly out of nowhere. In my case life gave me an obsession with scratch-made gnocchi and I ended up making farfalle instead!!! And to make things even better the dish turned out so good that I ended up eating more than half of it myself. (Sorry Wifey!!!) This scrumptious pasta dish will surely get your mouth salivating in no time.
These days I am on a two-week vacation before I take up my new job in Dallas, TX. That means I have plenty of time for my two passions i.e. travelling and cooking. Its not just cooking but scratch-made cooking that I am obsessed with, especially PIZZA and PASTA. Since I do not have any pasta making equipment it was difficult to settle on the type of pasta that I could make. Ultimately the answer came to me via an unexpected source.
I came across one of Gordon Ramsay’s videos on YouTube where he was making gnocchi and a light bulb came on in my head instantly. I was like hey this doesn’t need any equipment. All he was doing is making dough, cutting it into small dumplings and boiling it. But I forgot one little fact. Trained chefs make everything look easy but ordinary people like me need a little practice. At this point I do not need to tell you that I totally and completely messed up the gnocchi. Soft, fluffy, pillows are words normally used to describe gnocchi but mine turned out to be hard potato dumplings.
Everyone messes up every once in a while. Please do share some kitchen accidents with me and lets all have a good laugh about it.
Looking on the brighter side both the missus and me really loved the sauce that I made. So it was back to the drawing board to find out the type of pasta that would pair well with this lush tomato and yogurt sauce. After doing a little bit of research we settled on something called as “FARFALLE”. It is derived from the word “FARFALLA” which means “Butterfly” in Italian. No prizes for guessing that the pasta is shaped like a butterfly or a bow tie but with serrated edges.
The pasta can be made much easier using a pasta-maker but it is not that difficult to make it by hand. The individual pasta pieces may not come out perfectly shaped (mine are all irregular) but hey you can proudly say that they are handmade!!! This type of pasta usually goes well with tomato and cream sauces. So it was a no-brainer to pair it with my tomato and yogurt sauce.
Mix the flour and salt on a flat surface. Make a well in centre and crack the eggs in it. Then use a fork to beat the eggs, folding the flour into the eggs at the same time. Mix till it starts to turn into a sticky dough.
Turn the dough over on a floured surface. Knead the dough by folding and pushing down with the heel of your palm until it is smooth and elastic. It takes work with the kneading, so be patient. It will come out great!!!
Cut the dough in half. Cover one half of the dough with a wet cloth. Roll the other half into a very thin sheet and then use a knife/shears with a serrated edge to form rectangular strips. If you do not have anything with a ragged edge to get the shape shown below simply use a regular knife/pizza cutter.
Take one rectangular strip and pinch in the middle to form a bow.
Bring a large pan of water to a boil over high flame. Add the pasta to boiling water. Fresh pasta cooks really fast in about 3 minutes and floats on the top. Once cooked drain the water.
Melt 2 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion puree and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Mix in the tomato puree and dry spices. Then add yogurt, cook till the oil separates from the gravy. Add the farfalle pasta and cook till the flavors come together and the sauce completely coats the pasta (4-5 minutes). Add the peas and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
This delectable bow-tie pasta with rich creamy tomato sauce complimented by vivid and spicy Indian flavors will become a must-have at the dinner table.
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Bow-tie pasta with rich creamy tomato sauce.
Ingredients
For the farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
- 11/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 3 Eggs Medium size
- Salt
For The Sauce
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 1 Onion small pureed
- 1/2 cup Yogurt
- 1 cup Tomato puree
- 1/2 cup Peas
- 1 tsp Garam Masala Optional
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1½ tsp Red chilli powder
- 1 tsp Pepper powder
- Salt as per taste
Instructions
For the farfalle (bow-tie) pasta
- Mix the flour and salt on a flat surface. Make a well in centre and crack the eggs in it.
- Use the fork to beat the eggs and incorporate the flour little by little in the eggs to form a soft dough.
- Take the dough out on a floured surface and knead it by folding and pushing with the heel of your palm until it is smooth and elastic.
- Cut the dough into half. Cover one half with a moist cloth.
- Roll the other half with rolling pin into a very thin sheet.
- With knife/pizza cutter cut it into rectangular strips.
- Pinch the individual strips in the middle to form a bow and place them on a floured surface.
- Bring a large pan of water to a boil over high flame.
- Add the pasta to boiling water.
- Fresh pasta cooks really fast in about 3 minutes and rises to the surface.
- Drain the water.
For the Sauce
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion puree and sauté for 3-4 minutes.
- Mix in the tomato puree and turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, pepper powder and garam masala.
- Then add yogurt and cook till the oil separates from the gravy
- Add farfalle pasta and cook till the sauce coats the pasta (about 5 minutes).
- Add the peas and then season with salt and pepper.
- You can sprinkle with cheese of your choice before serving.
