Salsa

Salsa picante! Corn chips! A good refreshing beer or a nice Margarita! Sounds like a good start for your evening.

Salsa is a very easy dip to prepare. You can adjust it to your taste, don't feel bad if you only add one chili or if you de-seed the chillies. It's fine, and it will still be tasty, and not too spicy.

Anyway, let's get started with this quick and simple salsa.

For about two cups to two cups and a half of salsa, you will need:

• 400g of diced tomatoes*
• A glove of garlic
• 1/2 a big onion
• 2 chillies
• A handful of fresh cilantro
• Some salt and pepper to taste
• A spritz of lime juice

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Start by finely dicing your ingredients; the glove of garlic, the 1/2 onion, the chillies, and the fresh cilantro.

In a bowl, add your diced tomatoes, the diced ingredients, and the salt and pepper.

Mix them so that the ingredients combine nicely together.

You just made your own salsa! That's it! Wasn't it easy?! So, no more need for those pre-made jars.

Cover your bowl and keep in the fridge until serving.

Before serving, give the salsa a good stir, and add a spritz of lime juice on top.

*You can use a can of diced tomatoes, or use fresh tomatoes finely diced or crushed with a hand mixer.


Tip: If you have some salsa leftovers, use your salsa to make enchiladas. Try our Chicken Enchiladas.

You can also use it to make a spicy omelet or some spicy scrambled eggs. Or, use the salsa to give a kick to your mac & cheese.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Risotto with Chorizo and Sun-Dried Tomato

I love experimenting with different flavour combinations, and I often cross foods and ingredients from one dish to another. We love using the Chorizo and Sun-Dried tomato combination, from savoury cookies to pizza toppings, and so I thought to myself, "why not risotto?" So, I tried it and it was delicious! I find that the gamut of flavours provided by the primary ingredients is enough for the dish, and there is really no need for additional spices or herbs. But that is just me; feel free to spice up this dish as you like.

For 2-3 people, you will need:

• 250 grams of arborio rice
• 100 grams of chorizo, sliced*
• 80 grams of sun-dried tomatoes***
• 1 litre of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
• 250 millilitres of white wine**
• 15 grams of butter
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese (ideally freshly grated)

* I am using cured chorizo, therefore I don't cook it beforehand. If you are using fresh chorizo, the same recipe will work after you cook your chorizo. Do not add uncooked chorizo to your risotto!

** You can replace the white wine with chicken stock, if you prefer.

Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes


I'll just stress one point before we begin; risotto is a dish that takes more active time than most other dishes. By this, I mean you will be constantly engaged with the dish and won't have much time to run off and do something else quickly. Therefore, it is imperative that you have your preparation, or mise-en-place, ready to go before you begin cooking (as pictured above).


Start with a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the shallots.

Fry the shallots until browned.

Now reduce the heat to low, add your arborio rice, and stir the rice around the pan for about 30 seconds.

Add the white wine by pouring it all over the rice, and keep gently stirring.

In a few minutes, the wine will get absorbed by the rice, and the liquid in the pan will begin to disappear as you stir. What you are looking for is a texture that, when separated by the spatula, is not liquid enough to rejoin.

This is the time to add more liquid. Now we start with the chicken stock, adding one ladle at a time.

And again, constantly stir until you can separate the risotto with a spatula.

The key to a lovely, creamy risotto is adding just one ladle at a time.

And letting it all get absorbed.

After the third time ladling in your broth, taste one grain of rice before each new ladle to check the doneness of the rice. It might take you 20 minutes, or 750 ml of broth before your risotto is ready, but it depends on so many factors such as temperature, concentration of broth, variety of arborio, that it is better for you to check your own risotto.

When it is al dente, add the chorizo and sun-dried tomatos.

And stir them into the risotto, adding one last ladle of broth.

Allow it to simmer for half a minute, then remove from heat, add the butter and parmesan and mix. It may look like there is a lot of liquid in the pan, but it will get quickly absorbed, leaving you with a creamy and soft risotto. If you continue on heat until the liquid is fully absorbed, the risotto will dry out before serving.

And finally, plate and serve with parmesan slices (not shown). As a side dish, some blanched green beans would be delicious and aesthetically pleasing.

Note: You can see from the photos that I used whole pieces of sun-dried tomatoes. You might want to cut them into smaller, bite-sized pieces, as the large wholes can be a little cumbersome when eating.

***Tip: Don't throw away your sun-dried tomatoes, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use them.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Pizza Sauce

This is a very basic tomato-based pizza sauce, everything is up for discussion and anything can be added/removed/changed as to your liking.

The following quantities are for one 15-inch pizza:

• 200 grams of pure tomato sauce (or tomato paste)
• Salt - to taste
• Ketchup - to taste
• Sugar - to taste
• Dried oregano - to taste
• Pepper - to taste

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Pour your tomato paste into a bowl, and go ahead and taste it. It is normally quite bland and this is why we need to add some stuff. The first things I like to add are the salt, ketchup and sugar, You can start with a quarter teaspoon of salt, then add about one teaspoon of ketchup. Now taste again. It will probably still be bland, but it should at least be balanced. Feel free to add more salt if you need to. You can also try adding a tiny sprinkle of sugar, it helps to bring out that tomato taste. Once you're happy with the balance, add about a teaspoon of dried oregano and a quarter teaspoon of pepper to give your sauce a little bit of kick. 

If your sauce is really, really thick, add a little bit of water. But be careful, add your water very slowly and a little at at time, and mix it well before adding more. Your sauce should be thick and gooey, not liquid.

That's it! Spread on your pizza (the back of a rounded serving spoon works well here), and continue with your toppings, and enjoy!

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

Mmmmm, nothing like heart-warming meatballs in tomato sauce on a Sunday afternoon lunch with the family. Of course, like many old-time-y dishes, there are a thousand ways to make your meatballs, and this is my way. You can serve this with spaghetti, or over some good hearty bread, or even with some polenta, and you can pretty much adjust almost every aspect of this recipe to suit your individual taste.

To make this recipe, for 5-6 people, you will need:

• About 900 grams of beef, or beef and pork mix if you prefer
• 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs (about 50 grams)
• 1/2 cup of milk (whole milk is best)
• 2 eggs
• 1 medium onion, diced
• A few tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, depending on your taste, finely chopped
• One tablespoon of parsley
• One tablespoon of basil
• 3 tablespoons of grated parmesan
• 2 teaspoons of salt 
• 1 teaspoon of pepper

The first thing we need to do is to soak the breadcrumbs in the milk for about 20 minutes, in a large mixing bowl.

While the breadcrumbs are soaking up the milk, saute your diced onions and finely chopped garlic in a bit of olive oil until they get a nice colour, set them aside.

After 20 minutes, your breadcrumbs and milk should have formed a pasty mixture. 

Into your breadcrumb-milk paste, add the garlic/onion sautee, the herbs, the parmesan, the salt and pepper, and the eggs.

Mix well with a fork to get a nice homogenous paste.

Now add the meat into the bowl.

Rinse your hands in some cold water and then mix everything together, using your hands. By rinsing them in cold water, it helps prevent the meat from sticking between your fingers.

You don't have to do this step if you don't have time, but it is a good idea to cover the bowl with some cling wrap and store the mix in the fridge for about 30 mins. This lets the beef rest, soak up some of the moisture and flavours, and will help make it easier to manage when forming the meat balls.

To form the meatballs, again rinse your hands in cold water, and just take a chuck of the mix with your fingers and roll it between your palms. Do not press too hard, and do not overwork; once the form is made, set them aside.

Lightly spread some oil on a tin-foil covered baking tray and lay out your meatballs for baking.

Bake the meatballs at 220 degrees C (425 F) for 15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, you can use the time to make your tomato sauce, but don't forget to take them out of the oven after 15 minutes! If your sauce isn't ready, they can rest on the counter.

Once your tomato sauce is done and your meatballs are out of the oven, carefully place your meatballs in your tomato sauce.

Let the meatballs braise in the sauce for 1 to 2 hours, partially covered.

Just before serving, I like to place the meatballs in an oven dish, sprinkle some parmesan on top, and pop it in the oven at 180C for 10 minutes.

You can serve them over spaghetti if you like, or with some hearty Italian bread, rice or even polenta.

*Note: Refer to the Simple Pasta Tomato Sauce page for a tomato sauce recipe.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Yummy Breakfast Sandwich

Here is a delicious breakfast sandwich that will help kickstart your weekday and help shake off those Monday blues. It is easy enough to put together in a jiffy, in between ironing your shirt and finding matching socks.

To make this sandwich, you just need:

• One or two eggs; depending how eggy you like it
• English muffins
• A tomato slice
• One or two slices of canadian bacon; depending how bacon-y you like it
• A few leaves of basil
• Cheese of your choice, a sharp cheddar would be a good choice.

Preparation time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

I was making a few sandwiches at the same time, so you will see me using ingredients for multiple sandwiches in the pictures below.

Lay your cut muffins (cut-side up) on an oven tray, add the slice of cheese on one half and place it in the oven to grill. Don't grill it just yet, just get it ready.

Slice your tomato and season the slice with some pepper, salt and dried basil.

Let the tomato slice rest of a bit. Meanwhile, beat your eggs in a bowl and add some salt and pepper.

Now we are ready to start cooking things. Basically, you need to grill the bacon and tomato, and cook the eggs. I did them as a scramble, but you can do them any way you wish.

When you're eggs are almost done, pop the muffins with the cheese in the oven on your grill setting to get the muffins toasted and cheese melted. Alternately, just toast your muffins if you would rather do that.

Finally, assemble your sandwich. I did Muffin-cheese-bacon-eggs-bacon-tomato-basil leaves-muffin.

Now go start your day feeling energised!

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki