Cooking is good for the soul

Here is a breakfast that is good for the soul, stomach and tongue. Just because your missus, kid and mom went off on a holiday to three different locations does not mean you have to depend on omlettes and bread or cardboard cheese sandwich at the local cafe.

You do need to have a bit of the following in your home first.

1. Two cups of macaroni / penne / linguine pasta. I used the whole wheat brown spagetti.
2. Extra virgin olive oil as per requirements
3. Salt - half a tea spoon - or according to taste - use less and adjust
4. Half a tea spoon pepper corns freshly ground - if using packed variety, please roast it to release the peppery aroma :)
5. Mushroom - supermarket variety - sliced very thin - about 5
6. Lime / Lemon juice - half a lemon / lime
7. Lemon / Lime rind - use a common steel grater available in any Indian kitchen and carefully scrape the green part of the lemon, white part is bitter - use half the lime / lemon. This gives a really great flavour and aroma
8. One very large garlic pod. or three small garlic pods chopped / minced fine - really really fine
9. About 8 stalks of coriander leaves chopped fine. Italians use parsley, we use kothimbir.
10. Cheese cube - amul is fine - or parmesan - grated

Boil some water in a pot, add a teaspoon of salt and two teaspoon of olive oil. When the water starts to bubble, toss in the pasta and cook as per instruction on the pack. Whole wheat linguine takes around ten minutes to cook.

Mix sliced mushroom, lime juice, olive oil, pepper, salt, minced garlic, lemon and rind, and chopped coriander while the pasta cooks. You can mix these upto an half hour before so that the flavours mix really well. When the pasta is cooked, take about half cup of the hot water and keep it aside. Now drain the pasta and do not rinse it with cold water like you normally do. Cover the mushroom mix with the pasta and let it be for 5 minutes. The heat from the pasta and the little water that gets into the bowl will cook the mushroom without it losing colour or taste. If the pasta mix is dry use some of the water you kept aside.

Toss well, sprinkle the cheese and eat with some green tea. It is good for the soul.

The original recipe is from Nigella Express show on TLC and I have just adapted it to Indian conditions.

The breakfast with the Sunday Hindustan Times was the best thing that anyone could get. Like I said, its good for the soul.