dinkel macaroni

One of my favourite places for food is Frankfurt.

Being a big fan of nuts and grains, i cant emphasis enough how much i enjoyed those kuchen (cakes), and dinkel brot (spelt bread) at the bakery.

I never failed to bring back a loaf for mum cos i just needed someone to really share the excitement i felt everytime i had a really yummiliciously grainy bread. But needless to say, each time it reaches home, it normally isnt as fragrant as when you have it fresh in that country.

Anyway, spelt was originally grown in Iran around 5000 to 6000 B.C and has been grown in Europe for over 300 years. It has gained popularity due to its nutty flavor, high protein and nutrition content. I managed to lay my hands on a nice pack of spelt macaroni at an organic shop recently.............

They name it rustic macaroni

Used it for dinner tonight

Edamame miso cream sauce macaroni

This was guilt free every mouthful.

Firstly, the pasta was packed with good grain protein, sot its not the normal empty caloric white pasta. Secondly, homemade edamame creamy pasta sauce with absolutely no cream!

The trick, is to use lot of vegetables, in this case onions & edamame which gave the sauce a good rough texture, and with miso and soyamilk, you get a thick and really creamy pasta sauce.

Pasta for 2 persons

Edamame cream sauce

200g cooked edamame

1/2 a large onion (roughly chopped)

1T white wine

2 heaped tablespoons miso

250ml soymilk

100ml consomme soup (or chicken broth)

Cook pasta according to instructions. keeping it al dente.

Fry onions in some olive oil till they soften watching not to brown them, add the edamame, white wine, and lastly the soup broth.

Simmer for 2 minutes on low heat.

Switch off heat and stir in miso paste. Blend in the food processor. We dont need it super smooth since we want to feel the nice nutty edamame in the sauce.

Pour back into pan, start up a medium heat, add soymilk, stir in 1 teaspoon of cornstarch dissolved in some water.

Add the pasta in and toss. At this point, you can add shredded chicken or boiled white bait like i did.

Dish out onto a plate, top with shaved parmegiano & nori.

We had carrot salad to go with too...

Garlic Sauteed Carrot strips (with some roughly chopped carrot leaves tossed in)

And something i got from the supermart, called ikameshi. Shoyu simmered rice stuffed squid.

I am craving dinkel brot...