This is a sponsored post
When we came to India in the early 1980s we were one of the few families in the neighbourhood who had a fridge. A small Bosch fridge which we had got from Iran. Fridges were not as prevalent in India as they are now.
Since we had a fridge the concept of using leftovers was not new to us. The leftover chicken and potatoes from a chicken curry with make their way to sandwiches I would take to school. Leftover liver from the curry would make their way to omelettes one would have for breakfast. Sometimes boiled eggs would be added to the leftover curry!
In fact one my first forays into ‘cooking’ was when I visited my aunt once before college began and used combinations of left overs from her fridge to make innovative sandwiches in her landlord’s sandwich grill.
Memories which came back to me when the folks at Bosch got in touch with me to know if I still use leftovers from the fridge in meals and if so how.
Coincidentally our cook Banu had made some chicken mince kebabs and the extras were left in the fridge. These kebabs are not very spicy and are seasoned with salt, pepper and bits of green chilli There is no garam masala or Indian spices in them. I was in the mood for something European and not Indian for dinner. Which is when I got the idea of using the kebabs as slightly over sized meatballs and making a spaghetti with them. Sort of like the spaghetti with meat balls that my mom used to make for me as a kid. Our fridge came to the rescue again. There was some boiled spaghetti in the fridge, which made cooking the dish rather convenient. We often boil pastas and keep them in the fridge and use these to whip up a quick dinner.
The result of the spaghetti meatball experiment was pretty pleasing. You could also try it. Here’s the recipe:
Ingredients: (for 2)
10 chicken kebabs (mildly spiced), 200 g spaghetti boiled as per pack instructions, 4 tomatoes, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, ½ teaspoon crushed black pepper, 4 cloves of garlic finely chopped, 6 leaves of fresh basil, 1 teaspoon sea salt, 1 capsicum finely chopped, 50 g of cheese, a pinch of oregano and paprika
Boil the tomatoes, skin them, puree them in a mixer grinder
Cook:
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Heat the extra virgin olive oil on a flat pan
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Once the oil heats, add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds
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Add the basil leaves and stir
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Add the tomato puree and crushed pepper cover the pan with a lid and let it cook on high flame. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the flame and let it cook for two minutes
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Put in the meatballs/ kebabs. Let them cook for 30 seconds. Then turn each over so that the meatballs cook evenly and absorb the sauce and become moist
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Add in the pasta/ spaghetti and slowly mix with the sauce and meatballs. Sprinkle in the salt. If it looks too dry add a couple of tablespoons of water. Let it cook for two minutes on a medium flame
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Add the chopped capsicum
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Top with some oregano and paprika powder and olive oil
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Transfer the spaghetti on the plate and grate the cheese on to it.
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Your dish is ready to eat
The recipe was also featured on the Bosch site. The folks at Bosch are running an international contest for folks using leftovers. You can check out the contest details here and enter it. There are refrigerators to be won.
Go to the #lovemyfridge campaign microsite and tell in a short text, photo, or video with the hashtag #lovemyfridge why you love your fridge and don’t forget to add the #lovemyfridge hashtag to your submission. Users can choose if they take part via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr.
You can only only win if the submit their post via the campaign microsite http://bit.ly/fridge_in
You could win 1 of 5 Bosch fridges worth a maximum of 5,000 euros!
Here’s wishing you all the best
PS. I had referred to our first fridge, a Bosch, on Facebook and some of my friends commented with stories of their first fridge. Sharing these with you and looking forward to hearing stories of your fridge. Happy cooking:
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Kurush F Dalal so did we A SQUAT FAT MONSTER WITH THICK SIDES AND A THICKER DOOR AND A FREEZER INSIDE IT
10 September at 15:49 · Edited · Unlike · 1 -
Subhasree Basu We had an Allwyn Prestcold. It was white, big and boxy. Occasionally when not feeling well, it would send some shockwaves out to the steel handle.
10 September at 20:17 · Like -
Rhea Mitra-Dalal We had an Allwyn for years. The freezer would turn into a block of ice and we had to regularly defrost it. It would then flood the kitchen as the ice melted. After many years it finally died and we bought a toilet trained fridge
10 September at 20:22 · Like · 4 -
Kalyan Karmakar Toilet trained fridge. ROFL. Yes i remember the defrosting and the shocks too
10 September at 20:24 · Like · 2 - Kurush F Dalal we had a leonard in Pune and during my hostel days the block of ice/freezer autodefrosted every Thursday thanx to load shedding and the acute agony of the gent living downstairs
Yesterday at 00:37 · Unlike · 1 -
Pratishtha Shrotriya Khan Toilet trained fridge!Rhea Mitra-Dalal
Yesterday at 11:08 · Like · 2 - Rhea Mitra-Dalal He he, after years and years of mopping up after the damned thing, it was such a relief not to worry about the leaks. My mom used to say the bloody fridge has peed again!
