Penne with sun-dried tomato pesto

Dear Appu,

This is one amazing, extremely simple, yummy pasta recipe that I have done over and over again many times. I reserve it for those days when I just don’t feel like cooking much. The boys love it, and it goes great with minestrone soup with all the thick, lumpy vegetables, and a glass of red wine!

INGREDIENTS

Penne pasta – 12 ounces
Sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil – 1 (8.5-ounce) jar 
Garlic cloves - 2
Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
Fresh basil leaves – 1 cup (packed)
Parmesan – 1/2 cup freshly grated

METHOD

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite (al dente), stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

2. Meanwhile, blend the sun-dried tomatoes and their oil, garlic, salt and pepper, to taste, and basil in a food processor and blend until the tomatoes are finely chopped. Transfer the tomato mixture to a large bowl. Stir in the Parmesan.

3. Add the pasta to the pesto and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Season the pasta, to taste, with salt and pepper and serve.

[Recipe Source : Food Network]

Roasted vegetables and pasta

Here’s a very simple pasta salad recipe that I found online.

I N G R E D I E N T S

1 medium eggplant
4 tomatoes
1 red onion
5 cloves of garlic
Fresh basil leaves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Balsamic vinegar
Fresh spinach leaves
Spiral pasta or Penne
Crumbled feta cheese

M E T H O D

1. Chop 1 medium eggplant, 4 tomatoes, 1 red onion into quarters. Put into a slightly greased oven pan. Throw in 5 cloves of garlic (unpeeled) and fresh basil leaves. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Salt and pepper.

2. Roast at 180ºC/350 F for 1 hour. While you’re waiting, Boil the pasta.

3. When roasting is done, toss in a handful or two of fresh spinach leaves. The heat makes the spinach wilt a bit.

4. Take out garlic cloves, unpeel, squash. Whisk with ¼ cup of olive oil and ¼ cup of balsamic vinegar. Pour this into the roasted vegetable mix.

5. Tip in pasta, feta cheese, toss everything, and eat immediately!

Simple and yummy. And if you find it a little too dry, just cook some white sauce on the side and mix some up in your pasta, and you have a few extra calories to your credit!