Pasta in Roasted Veggie Sauce..a hit with my kid and his friends

Hi.

Making an interesting lunch box for children is an ever daunting task we all mothers have. We all know that the kids love eating junk food and snacks and will finish that easily  as compared to the meals and my kid is surely and easily one of them. So it’s always challenging and interesting to innovate dishes which appear fast food but still are very healthy.

 

There are times when the vegetables go unused and show signs of aging on the skin, especially the delicate ones like the capsicum. I’m surely not one of them who will get intimidated by such things, I always take it up as a challenge and come up with something more interesting by using them wisely.  On one such  occasion I roasted them to make an interesting sauce and brought them to good use and using the sauce and with a few additional vegetables, made a pasta. The kid surely loved it but more than him his school friends freaked out, and it became an ‘ON DEMAND’ item. Then on, I started making the sauce frequently and once in two weeks I would give the pasta in his lunch box. I always use durum wheat pasta as it’s much more healthier to eat and digest.

Pasta made this way ensured a good intake of vegetables by the kid and he was happy that he could eat fast food in school, his palate was pampered and satiated. I was more than happy as the kid was satisfied eating his lunch box and was eating a diet rich in fibre and minerals.

Ingredients

(serves 1)

For Roasted Veggie Sauce

1 red capsicum

1 green capsicum

6-7 shallots

2-3 green chillies

2 garlic pods

14-15 cherry tomatoes

For cooking

3/4 cup dry pasta

1/2 yellow capsicum, sliced

3-4 florets of broccoli chopped

3-4 cherry tomatoes, halved

1tsp oregano

1tbsp butter

1tbsp olive oil

salt to taste

2tbsp grated cheese

 

Method

 

Chop all the vegetables and bake at 180C for half an hour or more  till the surface starts wilting and develops roast spots. Grind together using water. This makes about a cup and half of sauce. The sauce can be cooked in advance and be used as and when required.It can be frozen till then.

Boil about 3/4 cups of pasta in 4-5cups of water with  2tsp salt and 1tsp oil. Cook pasta al dente and  immediately strain and pour cold water on it to prevent further cooking.

Heat oil and butter together and sauté the broccoli and cheery tomatoes.

Put oregano and add the yellow capsicum. Do not overcook the veggies.

Mix in about 1-1/4cups (about 2handfuls) of boiled pasta (I used fusilli) and toss in the oil and veggies.

Mix  about 9-10tsp of  roasted veggie sauce and mix in a little salt.

Add the grated cheese (I used tomato flavoured cheddar) and mix. Serve hot. Garnish with sliced yellow capsicum and cherry tomatoes.

Sending it to Vardhini’s New U

Priya Mahadevan’s event guest hosted by Priya Sreeram

Indrani’s