I have spent the few days after Christmas trying to detox from my Christmas splurge ( raise your hands if you did not over eat a bit :)) . So Creamy Uziza Pasta was my treat and cheat meal in between the brief detox period. My pasta dish the uziza twist was so flavourful I ended up over eating it a tiny bit.:). Christmas was so interesting at my end. My mum came over from Calabar. It was my turn to host the family and so all siblings and their kids were over at my place. With the slaughtering of a he goat, a turkey and two chicken , tell me how possible it was not to over eat. So you see why I had to go on a few days of detox.
Now ,every where I turn online, is some form of diet/detox program or the other . For me , I try to set very few achievable goals like trying to reduce my body fat for example. What this means is that I have to further reduce fat in my cooking. So basically I will increase the use of herbs and spices to make my dishes flavourful. Someone should wish me well.
So guys this year is going to witness lots of creative and innovative ideas using local foods. How about that we continue to push the boundaries in projecting Nigerian and West African foods. I am so proud of how far we have come in terms projecting Nigerian food but so much more needs be done. I am starting on the note of Creamy Uziza Pasta. Uziza belongs too the black pepper family and is also called Penja pepper. I like the spicy and aromatic flavor of Uziza leaves and the seeds. I am sure going to explore this herb some more this year. Experimenting with roasted tatashe brought an interesting smoky flavour to the dish. Yes smoky/burnt peppers is another item I will be looking at in some dishes.
As I was making this dish it occurred to me that someone might not be able to find cooking cream, so you can use coconut cream instead. The thing in this case is that the coconut flavour might mask the uziza flavour so you just use a little more uziza. Enjoy today’s offering.
Let’s I forget, Happy New Year to you and welcome to 2017!
Recipe for Creamy Uziza Pasta
11/2 cups cooked Pasta
1 jumbo or 4 pieces medium Prawns
1 table spoon cooked Ham( optional)
1/4 small Onion
1 teaspoon chopped Uziza leaves
1 Tatashe pepper
1/4 cup- 1/2 cup Cream
1 table spoon Butter
Dry red Pepper to taste( optional)
Seasoning cube to taste
Salt to taste
Method
Pick , wash and slice the Uziza leaves and set aside.
Peel and cut up the jumbo shrimps into small chunks
Roast the tatashe over the burner flame, allow to cool, deseed and chop up
Heat the oil , fry the onion , add the prawns and seasoning to taste. Cook on low heat till shrimp is cooked
Add the cream and uziza leaves and cook for 2 minutes. If you are using smoked harm, this is when to add it.
Next, add the chopped tatashe
Add the pasta, mix well with the cream sauce
Serve warm
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