Quick Veggie Pasta with an Indian twist

Hubby has just left for Europe on a business trip and it's really boring to cook when he's not around. As I mention in my welcome note, the very reason I took to cooking is because of his encouragement and the excitement and appreciation he shows to all my culinary experimentations, however weird the results turn out to be. To my credit, or should I say, good luck, I've served him more good food than bad :)

When I'm not in the mood to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, I revert to my trusted pasta dish. The recipe that I have is obviously drawn from the Italian Pasta, but has an Indian twist to it. I prefer using cilantro to parsley and I also add a little Chilli paste to spice it up a bit. I use very little cheese as well.

I generally have a few packets of pasta lying around at any time in my pantry. Our personal favorite is penne, but in this recipe I use a mix of penne and tri color Rotini, just to add a bit of color. You may use any pasta you like with this. Just follow the instructions on the box for cooking the pasta.

This is a super easy recipe, made with store bought marinara sauce (You could use any of the brands; all of them are pretty good).


Ingredients
•Penne Pasta and Rotini : 1/2 box, around 150 gms
•Scallions: about 1/2 cup, finally chopped
•Garlic: 3 cloves, peeled and chopped
•Chilli Paste: 2 tsp
•Marinara Sauce: 2 cups
•Mixed Vegetables: 3/4 cup (I use the packaged frozen mixed veggies. If you are using fresh veggies, you can add in cubed carrots, beans, and peas)
•Red and Yellow Bell Peppers: ¼ cup
•Parsley or Cilantro Leaves chopped
•Parmesan Cheese shredded to top the pasta before serving
•Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO): 2 tsp
•Butter : 2 tsp
•Water to boil the pasta
•Salt : 1 tbsp

Kitchen Items Required
•Thick Bottomed Vessel to cook the pasta
•A colander to drain the pasta
•A pan to prepare the sauce
•Microwave safe bowl to cook the vegetables
•A serving plate with a pasta spoon

Method

1)Heat around 10 cups of water in a thick bottomed vessel and bring to a boil. Add 2 tbsp of salt and 2 tsp of butter. When the water is hot and boiling, add in the pasta. Cook Al dente (not undercooked, but not too soft). It should take about 10-15 mins. Remove from heat, drain the pasta into a colander, close with an aluminium foil to keep hot and keep aside.
2)In a microwave safe bowl, cook the veggies in a little bit of water, on high for 2 minutes. Remove and drain the water.
3)Keep pan on flame and add EVOO. Stir in the scallions and the garlic. Add the veggies, and the bell peppers, cilantro/parsley and stir.
4)Add chilli paste and the marinara sauce. Add salt. Keep stirring till the sauce becomes hot. Remove from heat.
5)Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl. Pour in the sauce on top and mix in using a pasta spoon.
6)Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top before serving.

Note:
a)You don’t fry the veggies when making pasta. They should be soft and cooked, not over fried.
b)I mostly make the non veg version of this pasta using the same recipe. The difference is to add finely chopped chicken and reduce the amount of vegetables. However first fry the chicken in olive oil so it cooks well and then add the other ingredients as directed above.
c)If you want to stick to the authentic Italian version of the pasta, eliminate the chilli paste, add some basil leaves as well while frying the garlic