Ramadan Iftar Menu: Day 3

Ramadan Iftar Menu: Day 3

Orzo Soup with Tomato + Negresco + Lukmet el Kady

The Soup: Orzo Soup with Tomato

What you will need:

4 cups of chicken broth 

100 grams of orzo pasta

1/4 cup of tomato juice

2 Tbsp corn oil

salt

pepper

Steps:

1. In a large cooking bowl, add the corn oil, and leave it to heat up. Once the oil is warm enough, add the orzo and fry until its color turns golden brown.

2. Add the chicken broth, then add a pinch of salt and pepper. Leave it on the stove until it starts to boil.

3. Once the soup boils, add the tomato juice and stir thoroughly. Leave it on the stove for another 10 minutes. 

Main Dish: Negresco

What you will need:

500 grams of penne pasta

1/2 kilo of chicken breasts (be sure to dice them)

1/4 kilo of mushrooms 

1 minced onion

1/2 cup of colored bell peppers

1/4 cup of green olives 

1 cube of chicken stock 

1/4 kilo of a mix of shredded roumy and cheddar cheese

3 cups of milk

4 Tbsp of flour 

4 Tbsp of butter or oil

Salt & pepper

2 eggs 

Steps: 

1. Start by boiling the pasta, as you usually do, drain the water from it and leave it on the side for now. 

2. In another cooking bowl, melt the butter and add the minced onion. Fry the onion until it turns to a golden brownish color. 

3. Add the colored bell pepper, olives, chicken stock, salt and pepper. Stir together for a few minutes, then add the chicken breasts and the mushrooms. Mix everything together until you feel the chicken cubes are fully cooked.

How to make the bechamel:

1. In another small cooking bowl, melt some butter. Once the butter has melted, add the flour while stirring, until the flour turns yellow.

2. Remove the bowl from the stove, and start to add the milk and stir thoroughly. Once you feel the mixture is creamy and has no clumps, put the bowl back on the stove, and continue to stir until the bechamel begins to boil. Once it begins to boil, turn off the heat. 

3. Leave the bechamel to cool down, then add the eggs, and stir thoroughly once more. 

Making the negresco:

1. Add a quarter of the bechamel you just made, to the pasta you had boiled earlier, and stir well together. 

2. Get a pyrex pan, and butter it up with its sides. Add half of the pasta to the pyrex pan.

3. Once you've created the first pasta layer, start to add the chicken breasts on top of it. Be sure to add the shredded cheese onto the layer of chicken.

4. Add the rest of the pasta on top of the chicken and cheese, creating the final layer of pasta. Pour the rest of the bechamel on it. Be sure to add some cheese on top of the last layer of bechamel 

5. Place the pyrex pan in the oven and leave it for around 20 minutes, once you feel the layer has turned golden brown, it is ready.

Dessert: Lukmet el Kady 

What you will need:

11/2 cup of flour

1 tea spoon of starch 

1 Tbsp of sugar

Pinch of salt

1 liter of warm water 

1 pack of Dry yeast

1 pack of vanilla

1 Tbsp of baking powder

Corn oil 

Steps:

1. In a cooking bowl add the dry yeast, half a cup of warm water and a pinch of sugar. Cover the bowl and leave it until the yeast is active.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients together, then add it to the cooking bowl with the yeast. Stir thoroughly and leave the mixture for half an hour until the dough starts to rise. 

3. Pour some corn oil in a frying pan. Once the oil has heated up, take a spoonful of the dough you made in step 2 and place it in the oil. It will start to form a round shape. Repeat, until you finish up the rest of the dough.

4. After all the round lukmet el kady have formed, dip them in syrup or sprinkle some powdered sugar on them.