I took some photos of the finished product and I do realise that nobody would actually serve pasta in glasses as a main course but I thought it would make some cute photos so that explains that.
Another thing; I know this isn't that summery since pasta is usually quite stodgy and its a comfort food and it's thought to be quite high carb and calories but this is actually quite a healthy recipe if you look at the ingredients. The only fat in the tomato sauce is the olive oil and if you use extra virgin olive oil it has a lot of health benefits and you can use the bare minimum needed to cook the vegetables, plus its 3-4 tablespoons for two servings. As for the cheese, only a small amount is grated on top but it can be skipped or just use something like parmesan that is very low fat. The garlic bread could be skipped but I only used the tiniest amount of butter and a small sprinkling of cheese so I added it, plus it makes the meal more interesting with the crunchy texture since all the vegetables in the sauce are very soft after the cooking.
Ingredients:
Serves 2
Pasta:
* 5 balls of tagliatelle
* 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
* 1 jar of tomato passata or 1 can of chopped tomatoes
* 1 stock cube and 500ml of water (or the amount on the box)
* 1 medium sized red onion
* 1 clove of garlic
Half of a red bell pepper
1 medium sized carrot
1 courgette
A handful of plum tomatoes
* Black pepper
* Herbs for seasoning - use dried or fresh, I used onion salt, oregano and basil but regular salt and mixed herbs is also fine
Garlic Bread:
* Baguette slices - any bread is fine for this but I find baguette tastes the best
* Garlic butter or regular butter with some garlic powder or crushed fresh garlic mixed in
* Cheese - parmesan, mozzarella or cheddar would probably suit the best
Method:
Pasta:
Simply peel and chop up the vegetables to similar sizes except the garlic and onion. For the garlic you want to either crush it if you have a garlic crusher or just mince it really small with a knife, the onion you want to cut in half lengthways (so if you chop off the top and end then stand it up and cut down the middle) then slice it up finely (doesn't have to be precise but you don't want big chunks of onion).
Next cook the vegetables starting with the onion and garlic then leaving a few minutes in-between add the rest of the vegetables starting with the harder ones first. So with my vegetables the onion and garlic went in first, I let them brown before adding the red pepper and carrots, once the pepper had started to brown and soften I added the courgette and tomatoes. After adding the last of the vegetables cook for a couple of minutes then add in the tomato passata along with the spices. Stir altogether and add the stock that is dissolved in hot water. Stir together.
The sauce is pretty much complete and at this point you just need to turn down the heat so that the sauce is still bubbling gently and let it reduce down to a thicker consistency. Depending how you like your tomato sauce it should be ready after 20 minutes.
I find that now is the best time to cook the pasta since that should take around 15-20 minutes depending which type and brand you use.
Garlic Bread:
It is probably easier to prepare this first then put it in a preheated oven to cook whilst the sauce is reducing so everything can be served together.
Simply spread the butter on the baguette slices and top with cheese. If you are using slightly old parmesan (when its been open for a few weeks and has started to dry) it is usually harder to melt so a few drops olive oil on top would be helpful or just use a bit more butter since I spread it very thin.
Put it on a baking tray and into an oven at 230˚C and cook for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted and has started to brown.
If you cook everything in this order it should all be ready at about the same time. To finish off, grate some parmesan over the tomato sauce and sprinkle some black pepper on top. I like to serve this with some fresh salad and I just mix it in with the pasta and spoon the sauce on top of it.
* 1 stock cube and 500ml of water (or the amount on the box)
* 1 medium sized red onion
* 1 clove of garlic
Half of a red bell pepper
1 medium sized carrot
1 courgette
A handful of plum tomatoes
* Black pepper
* Herbs for seasoning - use dried or fresh, I used onion salt, oregano and basil but regular salt and mixed herbs is also fine
Garlic Bread:
* Baguette slices - any bread is fine for this but I find baguette tastes the best
* Garlic butter or regular butter with some garlic powder or crushed fresh garlic mixed in
* Cheese - parmesan, mozzarella or cheddar would probably suit the best
Method:
Pasta:
Simply peel and chop up the vegetables to similar sizes except the garlic and onion. For the garlic you want to either crush it if you have a garlic crusher or just mince it really small with a knife, the onion you want to cut in half lengthways (so if you chop off the top and end then stand it up and cut down the middle) then slice it up finely (doesn't have to be precise but you don't want big chunks of onion).Next cook the vegetables starting with the onion and garlic then leaving a few minutes in-between add the rest of the vegetables starting with the harder ones first. So with my vegetables the onion and garlic went in first, I let them brown before adding the red pepper and carrots, once the pepper had started to brown and soften I added the courgette and tomatoes. After adding the last of the vegetables cook for a couple of minutes then add in the tomato passata along with the spices. Stir altogether and add the stock that is dissolved in hot water. Stir together.
The sauce is pretty much complete and at this point you just need to turn down the heat so that the sauce is still bubbling gently and let it reduce down to a thicker consistency. Depending how you like your tomato sauce it should be ready after 20 minutes.
I find that now is the best time to cook the pasta since that should take around 15-20 minutes depending which type and brand you use.
Garlic Bread:
It is probably easier to prepare this first then put it in a preheated oven to cook whilst the sauce is reducing so everything can be served together.
Simply spread the butter on the baguette slices and top with cheese. If you are using slightly old parmesan (when its been open for a few weeks and has started to dry) it is usually harder to melt so a few drops olive oil on top would be helpful or just use a bit more butter since I spread it very thin.Put it on a baking tray and into an oven at 230˚C and cook for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted and has started to brown.
If you cook everything in this order it should all be ready at about the same time. To finish off, grate some parmesan over the tomato sauce and sprinkle some black pepper on top. I like to serve this with some fresh salad and I just mix it in with the pasta and spoon the sauce on top of it.
