Spinach spaghetti with zucchini - vegan recipe

Its recipe time! While we have been experimenting and playing with a bunch of new flavours, we haven't been very regular about posting them online and making it available to you all. So here's a Slyly Simple recipe that is bound to please with ease... all it takes is fifteen minutes, and you have a vegan main course for your special dinner!

You could also just as easily put this together into a microwave friendly bowl - and heat 'n' eat when you take your lunch break...

Ingredients (serves 2)

Slyly Simple vegan spinach spaghetti - 1 box (150g)

Slyly Simple vegan basil walnut pesto - 3 tablespoons

Slyly Simple tomato basil sauce - 4 tablespoons

1 medium sized zucchini, diced

 

Method:

Fill a saucepan with water and a pinch of sauce, and bring to a rolling boil. You can dice the zucchini while it boils.

 

Once the water is boiling, reduce the heat and slowly immerse the spaghetti. Let it simmer for about 4-5 minutes - stir gently now and then to make sure it all cooks.

 

While the spaghetti cooks, put the pesto into another sauce pan and heat on a low flame. As soon as the pesto is warm, add the zucchini to the pot, and stir well so that the zucchini is coated with pesto. Stir occasionally while cooking until the zucchini is just tender (about 2 minutes).

At this point, add the tomato basil sauce and mix well. Let the sauce heat up; your spaghetti should be ready around now.

 

Drain the spaghetti using a colander (do not rinse under cold water) and try to make sure most of the water is drained out. Now add the spaghetti to the sauce (which will be uniformly warm by now). Gently toss so that the spaghetti is coated with sauce (do not stir furiously, or the spaghetti will break).

 

Put the flame off, cover the pot for a couple of minutes so all the flavours come together. Et voila! Your Slyly Simple vegan delight is ready to serve!

 

Serving suggestion:

Serve alongside a fresh salad, or a slice of garlic bread for a simple and healthy meal!

Our favourite kinds of markets

Bangalore is abuzz with farmers markets, there seems to be one in different parts of the city almost every weekend. We have participated in a few, and attended others, and have noticed them to be quite different from each other. Some are hosted in high end locations, with expensive restaurants, branded foods and a high society ambience. Others have a flea market feel to it, with stalls selling jewellery, clothing and artwork. Our favourite kind has been the small, local setup, with a focus on food and fresh, locally available produce, represented by the farmer or the business owners themselves, and targeting the neighbourhood in which it is conducted.

A Slyly Simple stall

One of the biggest highlights of a routine life in Europe, is the weekly market - in some places these are conducted throughout the year, come rain, snow or sunshine. The market is setup in an open public area - maybe near the town hall, or in a scenic central square. The market area is car-free - and one must either park a little distance away and walk down, or else bring along a cycle or a little trolley to carry your shopping back home. The stalls are set up by individual farmers themselves - they either have a collapsible tent below which they have tables stacked with fresh fruits and vegetables, others have a couple of tables under a canopy, some bring pushcarts, while others have vans which open up to form a portable store. The vans are normally used by farmers who need to keep their produce chilled - whether it is fresh milk, hand crafted cheese, fresh pasta or cuts of meat. 

Christmas markets

Each season dictates a different set of produce, and seasonal specialities are highlighted - be it wild mushrooms or piping hot orange juice in the winters (sounds strange - but try it when its freezing outside!).

Seasonal pumpkins

Wild mushrooms

The atmosphere is lively and jovial, with sellers yelling out best prices for their wares, florists and nurseries displaying the prettiest plants up front, and prices quickly varying according to the demand. Some stalls are very popular and have people lined up in front of them, the best stuff is sold out early and late comers go away disappointed. Everyone brings their own bag, and the place is left clean without any garbage or litter lying around. People are encouraged to reuse, milk and yoghurt bottles can be returned when one comes to make the next purchase. The market normally begins early in the morning and wraps up by lunch time on Saturdays, leaving everyone (including the vendors) the chance to enjoy the rest of the day and weekend at home. It is the ideal place to go to for fresh groceries, which is usually used up for family dinners and social gatherings over the weekend.

With atmosphere like this, why wouldn't you visit every week?

The weekly market is a prettier form of the markets we have by the sides of our streets on Sunday mornings, except that it is more visitor friendly, and also includes hand made products with locally procured ingredients. The markets give one the possibility of going home with something delicious, something exotic, something they wouldn't otherwise find in a regular supermarket. The markets encourage local artisans, home cooks and the idea of making a delicious, exotic meal from scratch. Its all about a simple, hearty life - the kind that we recognise from 15 years ago, before malls, supermarkets, take-aways and home deliveries became routine living.

 

Its heartening to see that farmers markets are picking up here, specially in Bangalore - with the right kind of events, this is bound to grow into wonderful neighourhood experiences. Here's to every organiser of farmers markets - and while we jump on to the bandwagon, lets try and keep it simple!

Gnocchi I can never forget

Living in Europe is an incredible experience, and specific memories resurface to haunt you every now and then - timing yourself to the second so you don't miss the train in Germany, controlling the urge to stop at every shop window and drool at Belgian chocolate, sitting on the footpath with a complementary glass of wine as you wait for a table in the restaurant, diving into giant blocks of delicious home-made cake that only a German can make... specific situations that one couldn't forget and you'd wish to relive those instants over and over again...

One such memory that never leaves me is this beautiful lunch of gnocchi I had in Bologna. It had been a hectic morning, mostly spent shopping and looking around the city, and we were heading back to my host's home for lunch, when we passed by this delightful little shop whose counter was stacked with all sorts of delicious looking pasta. It seemed to be a popular place, judging by the crowd, even though it was traditionally past lunch-time (not that the Italians are that time concious anyway). We picked up some gnocchi, which was scooped up and weighed into a paper bag - and hurried home so we could eat soon.

Bologna

As I tried to help in the kitchen, my hostess went about fixing a "quick and easy" meal, apologising the whole time that this is going to be really simple food. She put a pot of water to boil, and as she did that she sliced some tomatoes, threw them onto a plate, shredded some fresh mozarella onto them, grabbed some basil from her potted plant, drizzled some olive oil, salt and pepper and left the plate to "rest". That took about a minute, and her caprese salad was ready! Next she chopped a few more tomatoes, a couple of other vegetables, crushed garlic and threw this all into a pot to cook, with some seasoning. The timing seemed perfect - just as the pot got hot enough, the water was boiling too. She tossed in the gnocchi, let them cook a couple of minutes, strained them out and tossed them in with the rest of the hot vegetables. Another two minutes and lunch was ready - all we had to do was serve ourselves and top it off with some freshly grated parmesan cheese. It all seemed frightfully easy - so much so that she felt the need to apologise for the simplicity of this meal... and yet, that flavour lingers, even so many years later. I'm not sure what it was really, that makes me want to go back and do this again - was it the experience of living a slice of Italian life, the simplicity with which a delicious meal was prepared, or just that it was THAT GOOD.

Who knew back then that I'd remember that meal for years to come - I wish I had taken a picture back then... this one is ripped off from the Internet:

Image courtesy: http://thesensitiveepicure.blogspot.in/2011/04/gluten-free-gnocchi-with-tomato-sauce.html

With Slyly Simple I hope to share this memory with you - perhaps we cannot recreate the beautiful city of Bologna here in Bangalore, neither can we add the charm of being hosted by a wonderful family. What we can do, however, is create some hand made, fresh pasta for you, so you can experience the joy of a simple Italian meal in the comfort of your own home.

Simple living in Tuscany

The first few steps

A moment of inspiration is all it takes for a new business to be born. In our case, the first spark came alive on a Wednesday evening, after a long and hard day at work, when exhaustion from traffic and chaos makes one sit down and wish to spend their life doing something rather different. This is only the beginning of our journey, and it remains to be seen how long we last. However, from dreaming of working on our own terms, it is a pretty big step already to begin to venture out, and face the hard world of making ends meet!

 

We wont pretend that we are in a position to advice, or tell somebody how to get about starting their own venture - we are barely trying to figure it out ourselves, with every mistake and goof up that comes our way. In addition to making this blog a gourmet food paradise, we would also like to chronicle our journey here, something that we may enjoy looking back at one day...

 

The idea of Slyly Simple was much simpler than the effort it has been to get it going... it involved several trials of recipes, techniques, proportions and ingredient sources. Needless to say, the first few weeks were spent eating a LOT of pasta; fortunately there were enough ever-willing friends willing to stop by for a meal! 

A mountain of fettuccine

It wasn't enough to have great flavour for one meal, the challenge was to be able to repeat it. One ingredient that didn't measure up was enough to destroy the entire batch. It was all about being really careful, identifying good sources, and getting a system in place which would make it possible to make each product efficiently, with as much multi-tasking possible. It took several sleepless nights and unusable batches of food before we could be slightly confident of having a formula. Even today, we need to be really careful every time, and the slightest mistake could lead to a lot of wastage. Experimenting and getting the food right was a lot of fun - after all, Slyly Simple came about only because of a love for food!

Fresh produce

What was all new for us, was to find ways to reach out to food lovers. This is probably where we spend most of our time - whether it comes to an online campaign, or participating in an event, every decision needs to be thought about, so we know whether it is the right platform for us. Our first few months have seen us participate in a variety of events, from farmers markets to birthday parties. Sometimes we've had too much food, while other times we are sold out! There have been production errors where we have lost large batches of food, and times where we completely misjudged the necessary quantity. All nighters, ordering ingredients, chaos in the kitchen - we've become all too used to these, but fortunately we have been getting slightly better each time.

 

What we have learned, is to take maximum help from family and friends. There are some that stand by you through all of it and others whom you've only just met who are excited for you and help in every way they can. It is all about setting the right tone, meeting the right people, and looking at every avenue possible to reach out further. It is heartening and encouraging every time you get support - however, one must also remember that help isn't always available, and people you thought you could count on seem to have disappeared after those numerous free meals up in the beginning. We've been happy thinking about all the good deeds coming our way, and are grateful to have a chance to know how much support we can garner!

 

All in all, starting off with a venture has a lot to teach - emotionally, professionally and personally. So far we have been loving the journey, and we hope to be living this experience for a long long time to come!

A Slyly Simple Party for Children

Our first event this year was a very special one - the first birthday of a dear friend's daughter. This was a very well planned party, and it was most important that the pasta matched up to the rest of the food and to the organisation of the whole party! The picture below is only of the appetizers, so as you can well imagine, this was a tough act to follow!

Picture courtesy: Kumar Kanetkar

Everything was homemade - from the appetizers to the birthday cake, and the spread was divine. The food was carefully planned so that it would appeal to children and the grown-ups too... this meant from taste to presentation, everything had to be thought through in detail.

Picture courtesy: Kumar Kanetkar

We are happy that it turned out really well, and we received a great response from the children and their parents alike! If you are looking for a child-friendly and adult-friendly healthy menu - here are some ideas on how to go about it:

Fettuccine in pesto:

Slyly Simple fettuccine is made with whole wheat flour, free range eggs and lots of care! Cook the pasta and toss it together with a little pesto, just until every ribbon of fettuccine is lightly coated with the sauce. Top this off with parmesan cheese and sundried tomatoes, and there you have it. Easy to fix, ready to serve, and delightful to eat!

For the meat lovers, top this off with thin slices of prosciutto - et voila! They'll be pleased!

Farfalle in creamy tomato sauce:

This is likely to be a big hit among the children. Keep some chilli flakes/tobasco handy, and the adults will love it too!

Mix some Slyly Simple Tomato Parmesan sauce with cream (ratio 1:1) in a bowl. Add some chopped black olives to the mix. Saute some finely chopped onions in olive oil, and add this to the sauce mixture too, for a tinge of sweetness. Boil some Slyly Simple whole wheat farfalle.

Fill a bowl with the pasta, pour onto it a generous helping of the sauce. Top it off with grated parmesan cheese and watch the children devour it!

Boneless grilled chicken chunks can be added to the sauce if desired.

Baked ravioli:

Baked ravioli is an old favourite - and it always works! A detailed recipe has been posted before, check out This Post!

Gift your children good health and good food their next birthday - serve them health, slyly and simply!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, Slyly Simple style!

Fill this year with fresh, whole wheat, homemade pasta - and be sure to have a fulfilling year ahead! :-)

What people have to say - December 2013

Its been over a month since we have launched, and we have our first bit of customer feedback. We thought it is a good idea to put all this feedback to words, and provide an answer wherever applicable.

A lot of feedback has been very positive; the texture and flavour of our pasta has been a big hit, as well as the branding, website, look and feel. The visual appeal of the product matches its intention, and for this we are very proud and happy. The flavours of our sauces have also received a lot of appreciation, and everybody agrees that the sauce quantity is generous, more than enough for the meal.

Slyly Simple baked ravioli

A few people have had a suspicious expression on hearing that the pasta is whole wheat, some are convinced that it would be too healthy to be tasty. Some have compared it to whole wheat pasta available in the supermarket, and have declared that they don't like whole wheat.

However, we are very happy to say, that after trying our products, we don't have a single complaint that our pasta is more healthy than it is tasty! except for the slightly darker colour, it isn't at all apparent that the pasta is whole wheat when it comes to taste and texture. Perhaps Slyly Simple will set the trend for wholesome food that looks and tastes good as well!

We are grateful and motivated by the positive feedback, and would like now elaborate on the criticism and points for improvement.

1. Why is it so expensive?

Most people who have ever tried their hand at fresh pasta do not have this question. People who compare the quality of the product with the best quality available in high end gourmet restaurants also do not have this question. But we have been faced with this question a couple of times, so here is the justification.
As far as ingredients are concerned, we use premium quality whole wheat, organic/free range eggs, organic soya flour and spices, imported cheese and olive oil, vegetables and herbs are either organic, or have minimum fertilizers/pesticides. We are a small scale unit, and can only buy our ingredients at retail rates. We do not skimp on the quantity or quality of any of our ingredients with the aim to cut costs. Good ingredients speak for good quality products, and our products speak for themselves.

Free range eggs are better for health

We use fresh produce

Our packaging is made from good quality materials so they can be reused for household purposed, or can be recycled.

Packaged ravioli

Slyly Simple aims to provide easy to use products, to make gourmet meals in your own kitchen without any of the preparation and planning that is actually needed. This means that we do the preparation and planning for you. We source the ingredients, evaluate the quality of the goods, work out recipes, check quality, procure packaging, work hard to make hand crafted pasta for your plate. The organisational effort and logistics aside, the process of creating our products is time consuming and physically demanding. Whole wheat dough specially requires more kneading, to attain the right consistency for pasta. Vegan pasta is even more difficult, since it takes a lot more kneading and a very delicate balance of moisture to flour so that the dough will bind properly. The dough needs to be kneaded in batches, and every flavour of pasta will mean another batch of dough. Once kneaded, the dough is rested for some time, after which the pasta rollers are used to bring the pasta into shape. While fettuccine is machine-cut, our ravioli and farfalle are individually hand crafted. Every piece is carefully examined to make sure the pasta holds its shape even while cooking. The shaped pasta is laid out to dry for some time, after which it is packaged. This means that the average physical effort needed to make one box of simple pasta is at least 1-2 hours. Ravioli is even more complex, since the filling must be made and cooled separately, and the packaging and storage is more complex.
Consider all this, and add to it operational costs, excess and wastage, and the price you come to is likely to be much higher than what we offer!

2. The quantity is too little

The portions in each box is sufficient for two people, when the pasta is part of a complete meal - which means that there are additional items like a soup/salad/dessert to go with it. If this is the only item in your meal, then this would be enough for two moderate eaters. Our portions are determined based on research of average meal sizes, and we rather leave you hungry for more, than have excess food on your plate!

Typical serving size for one person

3. The pasta did not absorb the flavour of the sauce/the flavour of the sauce was too strong

We received this feedback from one person, and we have been thinking about this in detail. Unfortunately, the two statements appear a little contradictory, since you would normally have stronger flavours because the pasta absorbed the sauce a little too well! People who are accustomed to using dry pasta may end up using a little too much sauce when working with fresh pasta.

Fettuccine with pesto and fresh vegetables

In any case, fresh pasta tends to absorb more sauce than dried pasta. We have also experienced this ourselves, which leaves us a little puzzled as to why we have this feedback.
The method of cooking could also result in this feedback, though. Some people tend to rinse the pasta in cold water after cooking - this means that the starch on the surface of the pasta is washed off, and the pasta cannot absorb any sauce after that... this method is only recommended while making cold pasta salads, where you want the pasta to cool down without overcooking.

4. The ravioli packaging needs improvement

We have had some glitches with the ravioli packaging, which we are working on. Since the ravioli filling is freshly cooked, it has moisture in it, which makes the pasta moist. This means that the ravioli needs to be frozen until it is ready to cook, which puts constraints on our packaging and distribution mechanism.
Having said this, we are working on the problem and are happy to announce that we have had a few batches of successfully packed ravioli. It is still too early to celebrate, but hopefully we will get there soon.
The few of you who have had bad luck with our ravioli will get a special offer with your next order!

5. The pesto bottles leak

To keep pesto fresh, it is necessary to cover the surface with a little bit of olive oil. This oil seems to seep through any kind of packaging we use, and we have tried improving the sealing, taping the lid down, even other containers.. the problem persists. To work around this, we have now added a second layer of packing to the pesto bottles to make it easy and cleaner to handle. We hope this works better now!

6. The cooking instructions are off the mark

The pasta should be immersed into the water only after the water has reached a boil. This is when the cooking time begins. Since ravioli is frozen, it may take a couple of minutes longer than the other pasta.

7. Is it possible to avoid the plastic packaging?

We tried very hard to have completely eco-friendly packaging. But we also needed packaging that is easy to store, easy to handle during transport, can be frozen for the ravioli and repels moisture. To have all these options and to still keep the price affordable, we were forced to select plastic. However, we only use high grade plastic materials which can be recycled or reused for household purposes. Our pasta boxes also provide suggestions on how the packaging could be reused.

8. Children don't like whole wheat/children want white sauce

While it is difficult to please children, we have experienced children relishing our pasta and coming back for seconds (and thirds). We have had stalls where we have served fresh cooked food - while a lot of children were initially disappointed that there wasn't any white sauce, they all were very satisfied with the flavour of the pasta after they tried it. We believe it is important to educate our children to eat wholesome meals, and Slyly Simple gives you that opportunity to serve your kids food that is fun and wholesome at the same time!

9. We want more shapes

We want more shapes too! We intend to expand our product list over time, starting with lasagna sheets, and moving on to short pasta shapes. We will get there, all you need to do is keep a close eye on what we make next!

10. Why is there a dog on the box? Is this dog food?

Errr... No this isn't intended to be dog food, but the dogs love it too! The dog on the box is the brand mascot and the reason while Slyly Simple came to be. Our food is honest, simple and sincere - with no agenda other than to leave you in a state of good health and good spirits, much in the same way our brand mascot does for us!

Our inspiration and mascot

On the whole, it has been a fantastic beginning. More than 90% of our patrons have had only good things to say, and we hope that the rest of you are convinced that we take your opinion seriously, and will do our best to continue to give you the best possible gourmet food.