Spicy fusilli with carrot, spinach, grapes and diced vegetables

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g water
• 1 tsp, heaped chicken stock powder
• 2 tbsp sauce (bulgogi sauce)
• 80 g fusilli
• 2 small spring onions
• 60 g carrot(s)
• 2 Pepper, green, long, mild
• 2 Pepper, red, long, mild to medium hot
• 20 g leaf spinach, the stems of which
• 100 g leaf spinach (approx. 10 – 12 plants, water spinach in the picture, see note)
• 50 g grapes, blue, seedless
• 10 g garlic clove(s)
• 20 g ginger
• 2 tbsp sesame oil, light
• 4 g Asian shrimp paste (Terasi Udang)
• 5 tbsp cooking water (from the pasta)
• 1 tsp, leveled chicken broth powder
• 1 tsp, levelled black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 tsp mace powder
• 1 tbsp Aceto balsamico tradizionale, alternatively Aceto Balsamic vinegar di Modena IGP
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• n. B. Water spinach, tender tips of 12 plants

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 15 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

A vegetarian main course that evokes a “WOW” not only when served. Recipe from Lombok, Indonesia.

Bring the water to a boil. Dissolve the chicken stock powder and the sauce in it. Add the fusilli and simmer gently with the lid on for 8 minutes. Strain, reserving the stock and fusilli separately. Wash all the vegetables. Remove any wilted leaves from the spring onions. Cut a 6 cm long piece off the top of the peeled carrot and use a vegetable peeler to cut strips lengthwise down to the light yellow center. Chop the middle into cubes approximately 4 mm thick. Remove the stalks from the peppers, halve them lengthwise, and remove the seeds. Slice the halves lengthwise into thin strands, then cut these crosswise into small cubes. Remove the leaves, including the stalks, from the stems. Cut off the top 10 cm of the stems, blanch for 1 minute, and use for garnishing. Remove the leaf stalks from the leaves and cut them crosswise into rolls approximately 3 mm wide. Use any unused rolls for something else or freeze them. Halve the grapes crosswise and cut the longer ones into thirds. To season, peel and squeeze the garlic cloves. Cut the peeled ginger crosswise into thin slices and chop them. Heat the sesame oil moderately in a small pan, add the garlic and ginger, and sauté. Crumble the shrimp paste and fry it. Deglaze with the pasta stock. Add the remaining seasoning ingredients and simmer for 1 minute. Heat the sunflower oil moderately in a wok, add the fusilli, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the seasoning mix and mix. Add all the vegetables, from the spring onions to the spinach leaf stalks, and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the spinach leaves in small batches and continue stirring. Add half of the remaining pasta stock and simmer for 2 minutes. Then stir in the grapes. Divide the finished fusilli dish among serving dishes, garnish, serve, and enjoy as a main meal. Note: Water spinach is an herbaceous aquatic plant that grows up to 50 cm tall. The lower part of the plant is woody and can at best be used as animal feed. The upper stems and the vitamin-rich leaves have a neutral flavor and are often eaten with sambal in Indonesia. Eating raw water spinach is not recommended. For the photo, the raw tips of the water spinach were used for garnishing and only then blanched. Water spinach wilts very quickly out of water and must therefore be processed as quickly as possible. For this reason, and the resulting inability to transport, water spinach is only available as seeds in Europe. Spinach and possibly chard are suitable substitutes.