Penne pasta with mixed vegetables
Pasta – though it is not Indian traditional food, our comfort food and easy to prepare for weekdays dinner. All of us at home like all Italian dishes as they are mildly flavored yet tasty. Today I am sharing the recipe of mixed vegetable penne pasta without using any pasta sauce.
Pasta is one dish in which I can add any veggies and make my daughter eat 🙂 There are many different types of it in which we generally use fusilli, penne and spaghetti. Most of the times, I use pasta made with whole wheat flour, only cooking time varies when compared to white pasta.
In this recipe, I haven’t used any pasta sauce. Just with veggies and a few spices, we can make this tasty recipe at home (and of course healthy). Most store-bought sauces are loaded with preservatives and additives. Avoid it as much as possible.
I have used carrots, zucchini and colored capsicum here, you can add veggies of your choice. Even mushrooms, cauliflower or broccoli can be added. As per the used veggies, the final taste of pasta varies a little.
Whole wheat penne pasta with mixed vegetables and Italian spices
- 200 gms whole wheat penne pasta
- 1 medium size zucchini
- 2 medium size carrots
- 1 green capsicum
- 1 red capsicum
- 1 yellow capsicum
- 2 celery stalks (Optional)
- 20 small garlic pods
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp black pepper powder
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
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Take a cooking bowl with 5 to 6 cups of water. Bring it to boil and add salt. Add pasta and tsp oil. (Or cook pasta according to the instructions on the cover). Cook pasta till just done.
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Drain pasta into a colander and keep it aside. Reserve some water in which pasta is cooked.
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While pasta is boiling down, chop all the veggies. I have used a mandoline slicer to chop carrots and zucchini into thin strips. Manually chopped other veggies and garlic.
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Heat a pan and add oil to it. Add chopped celery, garlic and carrots. Fry for a couple of minutes. You can skip celery if you don't have.
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Now add chopped zucchini and fry for one more minute.
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Now add chopped capsicum. You can skip red and yellow capsicum as well. Mix everything and let it fry for a couple of minutes on high flame.
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Add red chilli flakes, pepper powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt and mix everything. Pasta is cooked with salt, so add salt only for veggies.
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Add cooked pasta and toss everything. Cook for 5 - 8 minutes so that pasta absorbs all flavors. If it becomes too dry, you can add reserved water from step 2.
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I haven't added any cheese, if you want, you can add cheese now and mix everything. Off the stove and pasta is ready to serve!
- I generally cook pasta with extra water and tsp of oil so that pasta will not stick.
- Cook pasta al-dente. After taking into colander, you can pour glass of cold water onto pasta so that it will not be cooked further.
- I haven't added any cheese to this. You can add cheese at the end and cook for couple of more minutes.
- Instead of cheese, one can add coconut cream or almond butter as well for creaminess.
Penne pasta recipe with step by step details:
- Take a cooking bowl with 5 to 6 cups of water. Bring it to boil and add salt. Add pasta and tsp oil. (Or cook it according to the instructions on the cover). Cook pasta till just done.
- Drain pasta into a colander and keep it aside. Reserve some water in which pasta is cooked.
- While pasta is boiling down, chop all the veggies. I have used a mandoline slicer to chop carrots and zucchini into thin strips. Manually chopped other veggies and garlic.
- Heat a pan and add oil to it. Add chopped celery, garlic and carrots. Fry for a couple of minutes.
- Then add chopped zucchini and fry for one more minute.
- Now add chopped capsicum. You can skip red and yellow capsicum as well. Mix everything and let it fry for a couple of minutes on high flame. Here we don’t want to cook veggies completely.
- Then add red chilli flakes, pepper powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, salt and mix everything. Pasta is cooked with salt, so add salt only for veggies.
- Add cooked pasta and toss everything. Cook for 5 – 8 minutes so that pasta absorbs all flavors. If it becomes too dry, you can add reserved water from step 2.
- Here I haven’t added any cheese, if you want, you can add cheese now and mix everything. Off the stove and pasta is ready to serve!
Do try the recipe and leave a feedback here 🙂 Happy cooking !!