Arroz arabe (Arab rice)

This is a side dish that is usually prepared in Christmas or New Year's Eve to be served with stuffed turkey or roasted pork.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of white rice
• 2 cups of water
• 2 cups of classic Coke
• 1/2 cup of roasted almonds or nuts
• 1/2 cup of raisins (you can skip the raisins if you don't like them too much)
• 100 g. of angel hair pasta, vermicelli or other thin long pasta
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 minced garlic gloves
• Salt

Preparation:

Heat the oil in big pan or pot. Add the pasta broken in pieces and fry it stirring constantly. When the pasta starts to get brown add the almonds or nuts (previously crushed), the raisins and garlic, stir frequently until the pasta is brown. Add the water, coke and salt to taste, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed.

Alternatively, after frying the pasta and rice, put the whole mix in your rice cooker, add the water, coke and salt to taste. Follow your rice cooker instructions for cooking time.

Pastel de tallarin o tallarin al horno (pasta casserole)

Ingredients:

• 1 kg of spaghetti or your favorite pasta (approximately 2 lbs)
• 2 cups of evaporated milk
• 8 eggs
• 350 g of shredded cheese (it could be fresh cheese, mozzarella, Havarti or similar)
• 125 g of salted butter (approximately 1/4 lb)
• Salt
• 1 teaspoon of anise seed

Preparation:

Cook the pasta in boiling water with some salt, drain it and reserve. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a large casserole with some of the butter. Put a layer of pasta in the casserole and then cover it with some shredded cheese and small pieces of butter, repeat this process once or twice until you use all the pasta and cheese. Whisk the eggs, add the milk and salt to taste and pour over the whole pasta. Sprinkle the anise on top. Put the casserole in the oven and bake until golden, approximately for 45 minutes.

Cut it as a cake and serve it with llatan as a main dish or a side dish for a steak or roasted lamb. 

Pasta con Aji de Langostinos (pasta with shrimps in yellow chili sauce)

Ingredients:

• 750 g. of medium size shrimps (approximately 1.5 lbs)
• 500 g. of spaghetti (or your favorite pasta)
• 6 minced garlic cloves
• 1 regular size onion in thick slices
• 3 tablespoons of aji amarillo paste (Peruvian yellow chili paste)
• 3 slices of white bread soaked in 1 cup of milk
• 12 peeled roasted peanuts (it could be replaced by 1 tablespoon of peanut butter)
• 2 cups of cottage cheese (fresh cheese or mozzarella could be used)
• 4 tablespoons of oil
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 1/2 cup of black olives (halved or pitted) Parsley
• Salt
• Black pepper

Preparation:

Put 3 tablespoons of oil in a pan and sauté the minced garlic and onion until the onion is cooked. Add the aji amarillo and cook for two minutes stirring frequently. Put the mix in a blender, add the soaked bread, cheese, peanuts and a teaspoon of salt. Blend until creamy, add a little bit of milk if too thick and salt if needed.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan at medium-low temperature, add the shrimps, some salt and black pepper and cook for about 5 minutes until the shrimp are cooked. Pour the sauce and cook until the sauce starts boiling, stir frequently.

Cook the pasta the usual way.

Serve the pasta cover with plenty of sauce. Decorate each plate with slices of hard boiled eggs, olives, and parsley.