October 10, 2008

Farfalle pasta in a Saffron infused creamy pizza sauce

First

First 1

Can you imagine losing all your data from blogger? For food bloggers, the loss of content "I feel" means a lot of re-work. Cooking, presenting well, taking pics, writing down the recipe, posting the pics and recipe online....
That is heck of a lot of work to repeat, what would happen if you lost all of it? Hard to imagine right?

I was reading through a small article by Vanessa and I thought it was important to share the information.
If you already know it, or have implemented it, good for you! smart you!, please share such information that you already know of, so that people like me (who wouldn't have even given it a thought) can be aware of.

So, the issue here is "we don't back up" the content we so painstakingly write in our blogs. Well, at least I don't!
And if something were to happen to blogger (I am only talking about "blogspot" here) as Vanessa points out is inevitable some day. Issues like getting locked out or being banned from your own account are horrible things to hear, but what happens to all your blog posts? We normally don't subscribe to our own posts, so where is the backup?
What she suggests in her article is "create an email ID and send your posts to it" as you publish.
For this: Goto Dashboard --> Settings --> Email --> "BlogSend Address"
Enter your "non-google" email ID and have your posts sent to it.
I would in addition suggest, have a copy of pictures in your local hard drive.
Please back up data! And share information. Good luck.


Useful updates from Readers:
I am leaving them here, since not everyone feels the need to comment, and might end up missing out on all this wonderful knowledge.

Nick: "I actually upload my photos to photobucket.com and link to them from there as well as store all of them on my computer. The other thing you should do (if you made any changes) is to copy the HTML Layout code into Wordpad (or TextEdit for Mac's) and save it to your computer as well."

Ivy - "About blogger, there is an easy way to backup your blog. http://www.codeplex.com/bloggerbackup
However, I have moved to wordpress and have not yet found out how I backup my wordpress posts. If someone knows I would appreciate the help."


Mike of Mike's Table - "As for the backups, definitely a not glamorous thing but everyone absolutely should do it. I almost lost it all once but lucked out. I use Wordpress and there are a handful of plugins out there which do backups of everything (database + your photos) automatically and can even be scheduled to email the backups to you periodically. I believe there are also some which integrate with Amazon's storage service (S3), but that isn't free (although it sure is cheap)."


Now, let us back up some pasta in our tummy, shall we?
I am no Giada of pastas but I do cook decent tasting pasta meals :)
So, here are some things that might help while cooking pasta:
Good quality sauce makes the world of difference.
Do not keep stirring the pasta while it is boiling in the water, a couple of times would suffice.
Salt the water well before cooking the pasta in the pot.
Add oil (and salt) after draining the water to prevent the pasta from sticking to each other.
Cook pasta to al-dente (fancy word for not fully cooked/firm, should still have a bite to it like Giada says), or it tends to turn sticky/mushy (especially the whole-wheat ones.)

I bought Durum wheat pasta, I had it delivered (so I did not buy it after seeing it) and was under the impression it was whole-wheat, as that is what it said in the package, but apparently semolina is refined flour, so there is a unexpected indulgence. Healthier option would be whole-wheat farfalle undoubtedly.
Did you know Farfalle is derived from the Italian word "farfalla" which means butterfly. That explains the shape, doesn't it?

As for the sauce, I have used a jar of pizza sauce that I had at hand. If you choose to go my way, please use a good quality one, that is key.
Saffron gives the sauce such a rich flavor and aroma, you have to taste it to believe it. I was pretty happy with the outcome. If I have interested you enough, read on for the recipe.

Farfalle pasta in a Saffron infused creamy pizza sauce

Ingredients:

Organic Durum wheat pasta - 1 box
Pizza Sauce - 1 bottle
Heavy cream - 1/4 cup
Saffron - 1/4 tsp
Green onions - 1/4 cup chopped
Mixed vegetables of your choice - A few cups, cut in the same size
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Black pepper - 2 tsp
Salt - To taste

Method:

Cook the pasta according to package instructions, add a wee bit of salt and olive oil after draining the water and set aside.

Cook vegetables of your choice in a little olive oil, add salt, pepper and set aside.

For the sauce, bring the pizza sauce to a medium heat, add more pepper if needed.
Crush the saffron between your hands and mix it to the heavy cream.
Add the heavy cream to the hot pizza sauce and stir for a minute. Turn off heat. You may add herbs if you want, but I wanted to keep the saffron flavor prominent, hence I did not.

To serve, spoon the sauce at the bottom of the plate, layer with cooked pasta, then the vegetables. Add chopped green onions.
Sprinkle a little crushed dry saffron on top.
The heat from the sauce and pasta elevates the aroma of saffron. Heaven!

The bread served along with this pasta is Roasted Garlic Challah Bread

Last

This is off to Aartee's Sapadu Ready event

74 comments:

  1. love pasta recipes.....even i like it with lot of veggies......that wont be enough for me....can you make some more for me????:):)

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  2. love pasta recipes.....even i like it with lot of veggies......that wont be enough for me....can you make some more for me????:):)

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  3. Oh, Anu, what a nice tips on blogger.
    That single thought of losing info shocks me.Thanks for sharing this idea.Good job done.Your pasta looks yummy and i will try it soon.

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  4. i love the miniature corn cobs--they're so cute, even if they don't really taste like corn. :)
    great dish!

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  5. I love saffron but have never used it in a dish. It's so expensive and you only need to little that I feel like I would mess it up somehow..

    As for backing up, yes! I've been doing this since the beginning, having all my full posts emailed to me. I actually upload my photos to photobucket.com and link to them from there as well as store all of them on my computer. The other thing you should do (if you made any changes) is to copy the HTML Layout code into Wordpad (or TextEdit for Mac's) and save it to your computer as well.

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  6. Hey Divya, your pasta looks wonderful...loved the idea of adding saffron to it, I am sure the saffron added a real exotic touch to the pasta...thanks for all the information about backing up I never knew this...will start backing up all my info from now on :-)

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  7. Thankyou for the information.
    Really useful.
    I love pasta and am sure i will love this too

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  8. Alright, I'm helpful!

    Also, I've noticed that a lot of people only use blogger to store their images which is ok but those images are hard to find again unless you remember the post. But sites like photobucket.com or flickr, which are free, give you extra protection PLUS you can visually see all of your images laid out at any time and they will have names that make sense, not "a-bunch-of-garbage-characters.jpg"

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  9. divya dear thank u for ur wishes,
    pizza looks colourful and delicious yaar...

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  10. Hi Divya, your pasta looks yum..i will try it soon.Thanks for all the information..Really useful.

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  11. Love the color in the pasta.
    Thanks for the info... I have never imagined the posts to disappear though I store the pic`s and the posts.

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  12. Always good to backup posts to pictures!
    Pasta with touch of saffron got an elegant look!
    Happy Dusshera!

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  13. Gr8 yar. given a useful info along with delicious pastas. thanks for sharing.

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  14. great tips thr! i use photo bucket too..luved the recipe yaar! never tried it with saffron though!

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  15. Using saffron in pizza sauce,yummy idea.Will give it a try.Useful info on data saving.Will do the same.I am sometimes scared that my data will be lost.Thanks

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  16. HAPPY VIJAYADASHAMI TO YOU

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  17. Divs,saw ur comment.BTW,I think u can again reduce butter in lace cookies,by increasing the molasses /maple syrup.Check for sugar if u r adding these more.I will try this surely next time and I am updating the post with this info.

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  18. is this your own recipe? pasta loooks very colorful and i like the pic a lot. konjam parcel pannu enaku :)

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  19. lovely looking pasta. and a great idea to send an email to yourself with your post! thanks for the tip.

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  20. Oh I love pasta and this is wat m looking for. This is divine, delicious, amazing, and mouth-drooling entry!!!Keep rocking gal!!!

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  21. Nice pasta Recipe and presentation is jst amazing

    chakali

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  22. About blogger, there is an easy way to backup your blog. http://www.codeplex.com/bloggerbackup
    However, I have moved to wordpress and have not yet found out how I backup my wordpress posts. If someone knows I would appreciate the help.
    Your pasta dish sounds delicious. I just realized that I never made farfalle with a red sauce.

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  23. thanks for the tips!

    Pasta looks divine with all the veggies in there...

    cheers,trupti

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  24. That is great info Divya..And the pasta plate looks pretty! I make pasta once in a while when am bored of having rice n chapathis..Will try the saffron thing next time..

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  25. That sounds like a very tasty pasta and the photo has great color!

    As for the backups, definitely a not glamorous thing but everyone absolutely should do it. I almost lost it all once but lucked out. I use Wordpress and there are a handful of plugins out there which do backups of everything (database + your photos) automatically and can even be scheduled to email the backups to you periodically. I believe there are also some which integrate with Amazon's storage service (S3), but that isn't free (although it sure is cheap).

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  26. Cream in red sauce is a really nice addition, don't you think? Your colorful veggies are great, and my littlest guy just loves the bow tie shaped pasta! And for me, there's nothing quite like a nice chunk of garlic bread. Thanks for visiting me today!

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  27. Oh this pasta looks delicious! That sauce, wow!!

    Thanks for the tip on the microwave rice cooker...I will have to look for one at the store. Someone was also mentioning a baked brown rice risotto recipe...hmmmm...will have to look into both! I always prefer brown rice over white but I hate that it takes longer.

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  28. Not a huge pasta lover, but I'll admit that looks great. The veggies with the sauce makes for some beautiful colors :) I think Giada would be impressed.

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  29. your recipes looks amazing! I'll definitely try some of them.

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  30. Hey, I'm glad it turned out well :) That's why I love people like us, it's all about sharing and learning. Changes? I'm sure they were awesome :)

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  31. Hi first time to ur blog.... U have a wonderful blog. Excellent set of recipe. Nice pictures.... Thank u for comments...

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  32. thats very useful info on back up..losing contents is a nightmare..pasta looks yumm

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  33. The pasta looks awesome and really mouthwatering.Thanks for sharing the information,I think sending the post to email is great idea.

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  34. Thats an amazing pasta and I completely agree with you that a good sauce makes an amazing difference.

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  35. Thanks for those backup tips divya..

    pasta with veggies and sause looks so yummy!

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  36. thanks for the useful info. Divya! I always save a copy of (even the matter) everything I post in my hard disk.

    Pasta looks so great and rich. Thanks for the wonderful recipe.

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  37. Thanks for the tip re back-up. It is true, I have never thought of that before...

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  38. Pasta recipe is very new to me and looks lovely too:) Thankyou for sharing the information that you ccame to know...thats very nice to share something we know! I could not even imagine my data disappearing....but luckily my windows live writer which I use to write and post in my blog atleast uploads all my pictures atleast to piccasa web albums...so in that way my photos are safe;D

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  39. great looking pasta....

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  40. Thanks for the useful information divya :)

    Pasta looks rich and fantastic...I love pasta will try definitely...

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  41. Picture looks awesome, no wonder the Pasta also should be the same.
    Ramkumar

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  42. Beautiful picture , Anu!

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  43. Thanks Anu for such a useful information. pasta looks delicious. I bookmarked it. I need to start making pastas now :).

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  44. Your photos are lovely. I am a big fan of pasta in all shapes.

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  45. Nice one.. I wish i had heavy cream right now:( i just cant wait to try it out.

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  46. Mr. Ramkumar - Thanks so much for being so encouraging!

    Raks - Smart girl... I don't use live writer, must check into it. Tx

    Sukanya - Tx. You are very welcome :)

    Adam - Tx for the back up suggestions, and yeah the brownies kicked ass. Will post soon.

    Aggie - While you are at it, you can also try the Brown basmati rice, they are long and thin, and in my opinion taste better than all the brown rice varieties out there.

    Mike, Nick & Ivy - Tx for the suggestions. Have updated the section in my post.

    Curry Leaf - Tx for getting back. Will try it soon.

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  47. anu recipe looking colourful & yummy.i like to try it.thanks for sharing

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  48. Hi Anu,
    The pasta looks so colorful. Love the picture.

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  49. Lovely pics..drool; nice pasta

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  50. Hi Divya,pasta looks very delicious.is there any diff btwn marinara and pizza sauce?I want to know which tastes better with pasta?hey BTW I came to know frm Mahimaa's comments tht ur frm Seattle! am frm Seattle too :)am Mahimaa's friend.came to ur blog thru her.

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  51. Lovely pasta recipe, looked so delicious and picturesque, could be a featured item on an Italian restaurant.

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  52. I am a Pasta fan, your pasta looks great and tempting... About backup, good that you mentioned... I usually have 2 copies of my blog posts I became cautious after loosing data in my family tree portal... I always thought that ppl would have taken copies of their blogs...

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  53. Very useful information Divya. I really like the idea of subscribing to our own posts with a separate email ID.

    Saffron and cream in pasta sauce is new to me too. As you have mentioned I think I have to prepare this myself to believe it, because I'm little skeptical about saffron in a savory dish.

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  54. So colorful & appetizing. I have never dared to use saffron with pasta, but if it happens to look this good it sure is worth a try:-D

    Do all these yummy things come out of your head? quite a creative one u have up there I must say.

    about backing up.. I am having quite an issue here with wordpress. the plugin which i was using for so long had never been working which i just realized:-( It was just saving one sql file. have to figure out a better way.

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  55. Never thought of this possibility, Divya, but as you point out, it's a very real one. Thanks for the information.

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  56. Very colourful pasta dish - looks so delicious!
    Great blogging advice too, thank you! I must back up my blog more often, I like to copy the HTML and paste it into a word doc on my compy, but I haven't done it since May... I know what I'll be doing this weekend!!

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  57. It looks so beautiful and colorful. I love colorful meals :o).

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  58. Nice recipe divya. My kids love pasta and i've added to my collection :)

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  59. hi, love all those veggies in the pasta! awesome post, and I have already followed some of those tips afer reading now. Thanks:-)

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  60. hi, thats a very good article along with yummy recipes.And thats a very good suggestion too..will surely workonit right away

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  61. wht a colorful meals? lov the corns presentation..

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  62. Thanks for the useful info, Anu.. this is definitely helpful for all bloggers..
    Thats an inviting pasta plate! I Love the touch of saffron :)

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  63. hi, u can send any cuisine as long as it is a meal.yeah pastas can be sent too!

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  64. Madhuram - I know it sounds weird right? That is what I thought too, but it tasted really good. Saffron is a great addition in savory dishes, but as you said we were taught to add them only in sweet ones, but change is the spice of life, no?

    Lakshmi - Yes there is a difference between both those sauces. My guess is pizza sauce is more smooth and are concentrated in flavors (make sure not to add any salt in pizza sauce!). I wouldn't use any chunky sauces with this recipe, any smooth ones should work well.
    Yeah, and we should catch up sometime :)

    Soma - Yeah my head up there comes up with some nice, and some "not so nice" recipes every now and then. It has a mind of its own :)

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  65. Pasta looking yummy...I like the name though...quite fancy ;)...and that was some gud info...Thanks for sharing

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  66. Pasta looks delicious. Never tried making any other version than desi ;) Very nice pics.. tempting.. I have tagged you for a meme. do take i up when you have time

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  67. Dinner looks great but the warning is sticking with me. I would be devastated if I lost all my posts...

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  68. thank you dear.. cookies epadi irundhudhu?

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  69. this reminds me so much of a dish i had in Spain a few years ago! this is great looking, i can almost taste it!

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  70. That first picture is so tempting...

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  71. Pasta look very tasty and you just drove some sense into me with that tip on back up!! Thanks!

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  72. nice pasta recipe anudivya and helpful information for the bloggers.i have done as u said the email id

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  73. hey thanks for visiting my blog! and do keep sending me ur entries!

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  74. Hey....

    Just began blogging.it went into spam and it took a week to unlock :)..... thats about it. been busy with frds and will add something soon :)
    leave me ur cooments Divya.

    Cheers:)

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Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. I will try to respond to queries as soon as I can. If I miss anything that needs to be addressed... please feel free to ping me again.
Happy cooking/baking or whatever it is you are doing in the kitchen! :)