A TOAST TO ROASTED GARLIC…SPAGHETTI & FOCACCIA…& another award!
Of Spaghetti & Vegetables… this one’s a combination full-of-flavour!
Bursting with flavour…an incredibly delicious focaccia! 
Chargrilled Peppers & Roasted Garlic…perfect partners!
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Grill 2 bell peppers, a red & a yellow one till charred. I do it over the flame. Seal them immediately in a ziploc till they cool. Remove the charred skin & wash. Chop fine.
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Take 2 bulbs of garlic wrapped in foil. Bake in oven at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes. Allow to cool & then gently squeeze the insides into a bowl. Mash well with a fork (mashes very easily & becomes smooth), add about 1/2 cup of olive oil & freshly ground black pepper. Mix well.
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Both these can be done in advance to save time.
Roasted Garlic & Grilled Peppers Focaccia
Ingredients:
Yeast – 1 tbsp
Sugar – 1 1/2 tsps
Warm water 1 3/4 cups
Flour – 3 cups (+ a little extra if required)
Wholewheat flour – 1 cup
Salt – 1 tsp
Olive oil – 3 tbsps
Roasted garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Mixed Italian herbs – 1tbsp
Roasted chili flakes – 1/2 tsp
Chargrilled red & yellow peppers – 1 heaped tbsp each
Handful of fresh basil leaves
Garlic – 3-4 cloves / sliced
Sea salt – 1 1/2 tsp 
Method:
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In a bowl, stir together yeast, sugar and 1 ¾ cups lukewarm water and proof yeast for 10-15 minutes, or until foamy. Mix in the salt (not sea salt) + roasted garlic paste + herbs + chili flakes.
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Stir in 3 cups of flour + 1 cup of wheat flour + 1 tbsp of olive oil adding as much more flour as necessary to form a soft and slightly sticky dough. Mix in the bell peppers.
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Transfer to a lightly-oiled bowl, turn to coat, and let rise, covered, in a warm place for 1 hour, or until double in size.
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Knead dough down and press with lightly-oiled hands into 2 well-oiled 8″ round sandwich loaf pans & one slightly smaller one. Let them rise, covered loosely, for 30 minutes.
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Dimple dough with your fingers in places, drizzle 2 tablespoons olive oil over and spread over dough; sprinkle with onions, basil, garlic, a few bits of bell pepper and sea salt.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
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Bake for 35-40 minutes or until pale golden.
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Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve warm or at room temperature.
My twist on Spaghetti all’Aglio Arrostito…Spaghetti with Roasted Garlic & Chargrilled Peppers
as adapted from ‘The Pasta Bible’ by Jeni Wright, pg 164
Ingredients:
Spaghetti – 400-500 gms
Roasted garlic paste – all the remaining paste
Chargrilled peppers – of 1 1/2 – 2 peppers / chopped fine
Handful of basil leaves / chopped
Parmesan to serve
Roasted red chili flakes (optional)
Method:
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Cook & drain pasta.
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Toss in the roasted garlic paste + chopped grilled peppers + basil leaves.
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Serve immediately with Parmesan shavings handed separately, focaccia & a salad.
Talking of my dear friend Amy, from Familia Bencomo, ahem, it seems kinda apt to add in this post, that I’ve been given this precious award from the dear girl….blush! It’s the Arte y Pico Award, awarded to bloggers ‘for their creativity, design, interesting material, and who also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language’. I am really really touched; thank you Amy…this means more to me than you can imagine! This is indeed an inspiring award & I’m proud to have got it. I will pass it on to 5 blogs soon.
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
28 Comments
Pearlsofeast
Hi Deeba,I just enjoy ur collection of recipes. This focciacia is great and absolutely perfect.I get tempted to warm up myself as soon as I visit ur blog. Thanks for the inspiration.
Congratulation for the awards, u deserve it!!!!!!!
I beileve scropio ‘s are passionate!!!!, me too ha ha ha
Swati Raman Garg
focaccias look perfect… and congrats on the award…
Arundathi
congratulations! the focaccia looks lovely!
Rosie
Hi Deeba, wow wonderful focciacia and pasta dish such a great treat here!!
congratulations sweetie on your much deserved award!!
Rosie x
Rachel
Focaccia looks divine and congrats on the award..
Manggy
Congratulations on your award! That picture looks byootifull– did you get your new cam already? 🙂
Passionate baker...& beyond
From one passionate Scorpion to another…you made my day POE!!
Thanks for stopping by Swati…
Arundhati…how goes the basil? Every time I snip some leaves, I think of you!! Cool avatar BTW!!
Thanks for the LOVELY words Rosie…xoxoxo
You gotta try this focaccia Rachel…wonderful flavours in this one.
Hola Manggy…no new camera yet. Still flogging the old one like a dead horse! :0)
Passionate baker...& beyond
From one passionate Scorpion to another…you made my day POE!!
Thanks for stopping by Swati…
Arundhati…how goes the basil? Every time I snip some leaves, I think of you!! Cool avatar BTW!!
Thanks for the LOVELY words Rosie…xoxoxo
You gotta try this focaccia Rachel…wonderful flavours in this one.
Hola Manggy…no new camera yet. Still flogging the old one like a dead horse! :0)
familiabencomo
Deeba, daaahling, you are amazing! When I read your quote at the beginning “Garlic is a habit & a passion,” I thought “Well, it has to be for me!” Can you believe I still have some?!?!? Never will I buy that in bulk again. This pasta dish is the perfect solution. Thank you for posting it. I love your facaccia too. Your basil looks so tender & sweet. Don’t you love picking herbs from your garden?!?!
That award is perfect for you since you are in every way an artist. Better yet, you are a kind soul too, Scorpio & all.
Tanti baci, my friend,
Amy
Kalai
Congratulations on the well-deserved award, Deeba! Your style of presentation always leaves me amazed… These recipes are so simple and delicious. Will definitely try the focaccia soon! 🙂
Passionate baker...& beyond
Amy my dear…muah!! We must be garlic sisters!!! The aromas were amazing…& I do love fresh herbs. Am pretty full on basil; am now looking to grab some rosemary seeds…watch out gal!!! You make me feel so good..xoxoxo
Thanks Kalai…my kids LOVED the focaccia & there was none left. Remember that the dough has to be quite sticky!! Good luck to you!!
Passionate baker...& beyond
Amy my dear…muah!! We must be garlic sisters!!! The aromas were amazing…& I do love fresh herbs. Am pretty full on basil; am now looking to grab some rosemary seeds…watch out gal!!! You make me feel so good..xoxoxo
Thanks Kalai…my kids LOVED the focaccia & there was none left. Remember that the dough has to be quite sticky!! Good luck to you!!
Ben
That focaccia looks spectacular! I love the way you combined the ingredients for these two dishes. Great job and congratulations for another well-deserved award 🙂
Pixie
I seriously need to spend a week in the kitchen to concentrate on making more bread- your focaccia looks great and it’s a personal fav.
Cham
U really derserve this award 4 ur creativy and presentation…. beautiful focaccia
Divya Vikram
Congrats on ur award..And the focaccia looks ultimate
Vanamala
Wonderful…..
farida
Deeba, all you make looks delicious, and foccacia is not exception. You make it seem so easy to prepare. I really want to try bake it.
Susan from Food Blogga
Oh, I so want a piece of that focaccia right now, Deeba. Perhaps I should bake one this weekend, eh?
Congratulations on the award. You are wholeheartedly deserving of it. 🙂
Dhivya
congrats dear!and the focaccia looks so so yumm
Cynthia
Everything looks so deliciously flavourful!
amandalwh
Deeba! *hug* congrats on the award! 😀 u deserved to be awarded for being so committed in yr posting~ come on!! focaccia ! that’s my fav! love the nice herbs aroma~ *float around* and look at yours, with bell pepper! it is really creative! how does it taste like? 😀 and where’s my share? =(
Amanda
zlamushka
Deeba, congratulations to your award,. Nice to see you throwing in a savory dish every now and then. Gorgeous focaccia.
arundati
deeba…..this is gorgeous…i have been salivating…the focaccia and the spaghetti…just the kind of dinner i would like to sit down to….congratulations on the award…you so deserve it
MyKitchenInHalfCups
Love that focaccia!
Debby
This award is definitely what you deserve. The beautiful foods and blog are just what your site is. My daughter brought a ladybird, bug, whatever into the house the other day and was convinced the poor things loved her. Like you I was cooking and I can understand why you said temper and cool are not a very great combination. My children are starting to realize (me too) that when I try something new, don’t ask me trivial questions. In other words, consider how important it is.
newblogger
Hi there, First of all, let me say I just looooove reading your blog and looking at the amazing pictures. Honestly if these are the pictures you take yourself I think you should come out with a cookery book soon. For me reading your blog is ‘de-stressing’ in the middle of the very busy days at work. Just read you have your own herb garden, is it possible to get saplings of basil, thyme, coriander etc. from Gurgaon ? I live there and although I did get info abt where to get them from in delhi, it would be a great help if it was available in gurgaon itself.
Keep posting your wonderful recipes..I plan to try your pancake/scones this weekend and also the grilled foccaccio sandwiches soon 🙂
Purnima
Deeba, firstly CONGRATS ON BEING DOT COM –from blog to a site! Wonderful n pretty deserving!
Focaccia,though the name had scared me, your pics n directions drowned me into trying it, n am I pleased or wot? Nope, I m on the top of the world! Deeba, tks a ton..(pls chk mail) This is one of the finest bakes (bread) to my credit till date! 😀 THNKS!!