Vegetable Pasta in Pumpkin Sauce:

Do you feel strange? While reading “pumpkin”, that too in pasta? No need to feel!! It tastes good at the same time; it is a delicious, nourishing one-pot meal. You can check all my Pasta recipes, which has one thing or the other to make enjoyable of otherwise bland white sauce, which I usually plan for my daughter, who hates bland Bechamel white sauce.

Pumpkin is the most neglected all-round vegetable, even though considered as fall/winter vegetable in other parts of the world. It is low in calories, high in antioxidants, vitamins, minerals as well as high on the natural source of Beta carotene. Hence, whenever I have a fresh homegrown pumpkin is around, I make Pumpkin puree and store it in my freezer. In that way, it is handy whenever it is needed to make pasta or needed for baking.

We would see the procedure –

Ingredients:

Any pasta – 1 cup (of your choice)

Pumpkin Puree – ½ to ¾ the cup (according to your taste)

Veggies – 1 bowl (I have used zucchini, three colour bell peppers)

Butter or olive oil – 2 tablespoons

Whole wheat flour – 2 to 3 tablespoons

Milk – acc to the requirement

Garlic salt

Red chilli flakes

Italian seasoning

Grated cheese  – as you wish (it is purely optional )

Method:

– Drop pasta in boiling water in which,1 tsp of oil and little salt has been added and cooked.

-When it is done, drain the cooked pasta.

-Cool the pasta by pouring cold water and set aside.

– Chop the veggies and keep aside.

– Make white/pumpkin sauce: put some butter, fry wheat flour (3 TBL sp), add milk and mix nicely. Till it smooths out.

-Add pumpkin puree, drained pasta, garlic salt, red chilli flakes, Italian seasonings and give one boil, keep aside.

-I always keep pumpkin puree in the freezer. The recipe is here.

-In another Tawa, add either butter or olive oil, put chopped or sliced veggies, add req amount of red chilli flakes, garlic salt.

-when it wilts, add ready pumpkin sauce(wth pasta), grated cheese. Check for seasoning. Serve. 

 

Mug Pasta or One Bowl Pasta:

When my daughter had a holiday in between her exams, she has demanded for this treat for an afternoon lunch. She was alone on that day and I prepared it only for her and she was happy with the result. Today, I made it once again for my twins and I wanted to share the recipe with all my readers.

If you have seen my earlier posts of pastas I normally add any flavours to the white sauce. One of my daughters doesn’t like the bland taste, and here I thought of using tomato to give a little tangy taste.

I have used cooked elbow macaroni pasta. You are free to use any kind of pastas.

My daughter wanted Broccoli, capsicum and onion as veggie filling.

Then comes, grated cheese. I have used mozzarella cheese.

Here I am going to give for 2 big cups (meal for 2 kids)

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Ingredients:

Macaroon – 1 cup

Broccoli – ½ cup

Capsicum – 1

Onion – 1

Olive oil or butter – 2 tsp

Tomato – 2

Whole wheat flour – 2 tea spoons

Milk – ½ cup

Seasonings – of your choice

Garlic salt – as needed

Mozzarella cheese – as needed

Method:

-At first, cook tomato in a sauce pan by adding half a cup of water. Remove and cool.

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-In the same saucepan, blanch broccoli in boiling water and drain. It will help to remove any pesticide traces.

-In the same sauce pan, add required amount of water, little oil, salt and boil. Add pasta and cook into al Dante. Drain and keep aside.

-Chop onion, capsicum.

-Take one tawa, add 1 tea spoon of butter, toss all the three veggies (onion, broccoli and capsicum) by adding garlic salt, pizza seasoning, red chilli flakes or any other seasoning of your choice.

-Now tossed vegetable is ready and kept aside.

-Now we will make a pasta sauce.

-Fry whole wheat flour with butter or olive oil.

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-Take one blender, mix fried whole wheat, milk and cooked tomato with water in which it has cooked.

-Churn and make a paste.

-Cook this paste in a sauce pan by adding garlic salt, any seasoning. I have added crushed rosemary, jalapeno pepper and garlic salt seasoning.

-When it starts boiling and becomes shiny and thick, switch off the gas.

-Now comes the assembling part.

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-Take 2 Big ceramic mugs, if it is not available, use any baking dish.

-At first, pour couple of spoons of the prepared pasta sauce. Add grated cheese according to your wish.

-Add half of cooked pasta as a layer. Then half of veggie mix. Over to this, pour half the quantity of pasta sauce.

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-Once again repeat the action. Empty all the remaining pasta, then veggies, pasta sauce.

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-It will reach till the rim. Take one thick kitchen towel and place the mug and tap a little.

-All the sauce will settle,  sprinkle grated cheese on top.

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-Bake these ready mugs in a pre-heated oven at 180C for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese melts or becomes light brown.

-Serve with Love 😊

 

Roasted Red pepper Pasta with Pine nut Sauce:

It is colourful, simple, yet bursting with flavour, very satisfying one pot nutritious meal.

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How I proceeded with the recipe-

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pasta – 1 pack

Pine nuts – ½ cup

Milk – 1 to 1 ½ cup

Onion -1 (sliced)

Red bell pepper-3

Yellow bell pepper – 2

Green bell pepper -1

Red chilli flakes

Oregano

Olive oil – 1 table spoon

Garlic salt – as required

Grated cheese – 3 table spoon

Garlic greens or spring onion greens – little

Method:

  • Wash Red peppers and apply some oil to the outer surface.

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  • Soak pine nuts in milk.
  • Slice onion, green pepper and yellow pepper.
  • Cook pasta in sufficient water by adding little salt and oil. When it is cooked, drain the water and reserve this water to further use.
  • Pre heat oven to 200 C and keep the setting to Grill Option.
  • Make 4 quarters of red bell pepper and remove seeds, arrange this in a butter paper lined cookie tray.

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  • When oven is pre heated and ready, keep this tray in an oven and grill this for 10 minutes and then bake this further for 10 minutes.
  • (if you grill at first, you can avoid oozing of the water content from the bell pepper and it will be firm and juicy)

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  • When bell pepper is ready, make a paste by adding the pine nut and milk which has been soaked, with the bell pepper, and grind it in a mixer jar.

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  • Keep one wide mouth tawa, add olive oil or butter, when it is hot add sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes.

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  • Add sliced green and yellow bell pepper, little garlic salt, red chilli flakes and oregano. Fry for a while and add ground bell pepper paste.
  • Adjust the consistency by adding drained water which you reserved.
  • Check the taste and adjust salt, seasoning, red chilli flakes.

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  • When it is cooked, add grated cheese and mix in drained pasta and mix nicely. Serve by garnishing with garlic or spring onion greens.

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Note:

-If you don’t have garlic salt, add chopped garlic to the hot oil while adding onion.

-You can use any nuts of your choice.

 

Pasta Recipe:

When I was searching about must do’s in Pondicherry, I came across this amazing small place called Tanto’s which is famous for their wood fire pizza’s and handmade pasta’s. We chalked down our itinerary and this was one of our must dos, when we were there a couple of months back.

We had planned a visit to this place while visiting Auroville, because it is situated in almost 30 km away from the main city, on the way to Auroville. On the way back from Auroville, we had visited this place and it was not yet ready to serve lunch. I was not ready to go back empty handed and was feeling really upset. On hearing this, the owner suggested to us to buy their ready to cook handmade pasta packets and I picked up their five varieties of dried pastas. That included whole wheat plain, Basil, carrot, spinach and beetroot one. Tried everything and liked it all other than basil. This recipe which I am sharing now is specially designed for my daughter who hates bland white sauce pastas.

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Ingredients:

Pasta – 1 packet

Whole wheat flour – 2 teaspoon

Chopped veggies – 1 cup (I have used zucchini, broccoli)

Butter – 1 table spoon

Garlic salt – as per taste

Chilli flakes – as per taste

Oregano – as per taste

Pizza sauce – 2 to 3 teaspoon

Hot and sweet tomato sauce – 2 teaspoon

Milk – 2 cups

Mozzarella cheese – as required (grated)

Method:

-Take one big vessel with sufficient water,1 tsp of oil and little salt. When it starts boiling, drop in pasta and cook.

-When it is done, drain the cooked pasta and reserve water for further use.

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-Cool the pasta by pouring cold water and set aside.

– Chop the veggies and keep aside.

-Take one kadai, dry roast whole wheat flour and keep aside.

-In the same kadai, add butter, chopped veggies and fry for a while. Add garlic salt, red chilli flakes and oregano.

– When it is done (it should be crunchy) add pizza sauce, hot and sweet tomato sauce and mix nicely, so that veggies will be coated with this masala.

-Now add roasted whole wheat flour and mix evenly.

collage 2

-Add little reserved water (drained water from pasta in which is cooked) ,milk and boil until it is thick and creamy.

-Check for seasoning and add grated cheese and mix in pasta.

-If you find sauce is thick or dry, add either reserved water or milk and adjust the consistency.

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– Serve and enjoy.