The Cheat Pasta !

 

As an amateur cook and having such a great love for food, I am constantly learning about new ingredients, new recipes, varied combinations. When I first thought about sharing recipes, I thought why not share some information about the particular recipe or ingredient. And so every time before I write, I do a bit of research. In that process, I have learnt so much and I am still learning. I think studying a particular ingredient or a recipe and knowing their origin or what process they go through to become a final product, their nutritional values and how much value they provide to our body is just very educational.

While writing down the recipe for pasta, I did a bit of research and one of the articles I read states some facts about pasta. It says, “According to the scientifically proven Mediterranean Diet, pasta is perfect in its simplicity, healthfulness and versatility. It is also an affordable staple food that offers solutions to modern concerns about health, nutrition and the environment. The gorgeous international film star Sophia Loren once famously said, “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.” Without a doubt, pasta can fit with any healthy lifestyle. Made from wheat semolina or from the flour of other grains mixed with water and/or eggs, pasta is nutritious by itself. Mixed with other healthful foods like olive oil, tomato sauce, vegetables, beans, seafood and lean meats it is a key ingredient of healthy traditional eating plans around the world. Pasta is a carbohydrate and carbohydrates are a necessary part of a healthy diet. There is broad worldwide consensus among high-level nutrition scientists and related experts that 45-60% of our daily calories should come from healthy carbohydrates like pasta.”[1]

Pasta is one of my food weaknesses. It’s just so comforting to make and eat. This recipe was made on a very random day. At friend’s place, both almost dying from hunger and coincidentally both were craving pasta. So this is what we did. Opened the fridge and the cupboards and grab whatever we felt would be good to make a yummy pasta. We omitted the veggies as usual. This recipe basically consist of store-bought ingredients. That’s why the name, The Cheat Pasta. We were definitely not in a mood to make the pasta sauce by boiling, peeling and crushing the tomatoes or making the white sauce. We used Dr.Oetkar’s FunFoods Pasta & Pizza Sauce. Half the recipe for pasta covered in that bottle. From that day onwards, this is my all time favourite pasta recipe. I keep on varying the meats and veggies but the sauce remains the same.

For this recipe, I have given the approximate amount of each ingredients. You can vary according to your taste. Also add veggies, herbs and meats of your choice. Make your own version of pasta. This recipe is a non-veg pasta but all those veggie people, you can exclude the chicken. Non-veg lovers can also omit the veggies and stick to the chicken only. Let’s see how to make this cheat pasta.

Ingredients :

• 500 g pasta of your choice
• 250 g sausages cut into bite size pieces or boiled chicken shredded
• funfoods pasta & pizza sauce – one bottle
• 100 ml of amul cream
• 2 medium size tomatoes cut into medium size chunks
• 1 large green capsicum cut into medium size chunks
• 6-7 garlic cloves finely chopped
• 2-3 tbsp of black pepper crush
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil/ olive oil

Note : I found there was no need to add salt. The seasoning for perfect. If you feel the salt is less, do add as required.

Method : 

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions given on packet. Pasta should be al dente i.e. it should be cooked but still firm. Don’t forget to add salt and oil to the pasta boiling water.
2. Heat tbsp of oil and butter in a saucepan. Add in the chopped garlic and saute for a minute. Add in the sausage pieces or boiled chicken and fry for around 5 minutes on medium heat. Add in the black pepper crush and fry for a minute or two. If you are making veg pasta, just fry the chopped garlic and move on to the next step.
3. Lower the heat and add in 3/4th of the pasta sauce from the bottle and mix. Add in the cream and give a mix. Make sure the pasta sauce is mixed well with the cream.
4. Next add in the veggies and give it a stir. Check the taste. Add more pasta sauce or cream or any condiments you prefer.
5. Once you are fine with the taste, add in the cooked pasta and stir gently. Cover with lid for few minutes and turn off the gas. Pasta is ready to eat.

Serve hot with some garlic bread and maybe a glass of wine if you like.

Happy Cooking !

 

Reference

[1] http://www.pastaforall.info/wordpress/pasta-does-not-make-you-fat/