Tomatoes are to Pasta what Peas are to Carrots

Pasta and Pomodoro go together like peas and carrots (a la Forrest Gump). The sweet tang together with the chewy goodness of pasta is often a quick meal. Most pasta sauces are so forgiving that you can use canned diced or crushed tomatoes. Leftover sauces can be creatively used in any Indian gravy recipes inplace of tomatoes or tomato puree.

I remember seeing this recipe on a TV cooking show long back, I don't remember which one. Reconstructing by memory, here is Pasta with Three Tomatoes (fresh, canned and sun dried)

Pasta With Three Tomatoes
1 lb spaghetti Plenty of water salt to taste	Bring plenty of well salted water to a boil and cook spaghetti according to package directions, until al dente
2 tbsp tomato olive oil (from oil packed sun dried tomatoes) 2 tbsp minced garlic 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes	Heat oil in a saucepan. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes 1/2 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes 2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes halved	Add crushed tomatoes and sun dried tomatoes, cook down for 15 mins. Then, add the halved cherry tomatoes and simmer until the cherry tomato just turns soft. Drain spaghetti, add to the sauce. Add some retained pasta water to dilute sauce if desired. Top with grated Parmesan cheese (optional).

Each tomato sauce recipe has its signature - play with herbs, add a dash of vodka or wine or in this case, work with different flavors of the tomato. If you don't like the sour taste of sun dried tomatoes, you can reduce the amount used in the recipe.

This is an entry to ARF/5-a-day at Sweetnicks.

ARF/5-a-Day #13: Whole Wheat Pasta with Spinach and Feta

For this week's ARF event, I prepared a one-dish-meal rich in not one, not two but THREE ingredients from the top 10 Antioxidant foods - whole grain, spinach and garlic. Mediterranean style Whole Wheat Pasta with Spinach and Feta Cheese - One pot meal with a side of quick garlic bread. The recipe is adapted from the book "Vegetarian Times Cooks - Mediterranean". This book by the way, is an excellent collection of unique vegetarian recipes from France, Italy, Spain and others in the region. The savory tarts, focaccia and pizza recipes are in my must try list. Many traditional recipes are modified to include vegetarian or even vegan ingredients.
Ok, on with the recipe.

Spinach and whole wheat pasta taste great together. To vegan-ize the recipe, you can replace milk with oat or soy milk, and substitute feta cheese with one cup of well drained, well pressed crumbled firm tofu which has been sauteed over high heat with garlic in olive oil.

Whole Wheat Pasta with Spinach and Feta Cheese	Serves 6
1 lb dried whole wheat pasta (I used fusilli) 1 bag (10 ounces) spinach leaves, washed	Add pasta to large pot of salted boiling water. Cook till al dente, about 11 mins. Stir in the spinach during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
1 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 tbsp all purpose flour 1 cup milk	Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, cook until soft. Add flour and cook stirring continuously for about 2 mins. Remove from heat and add the milk. Return to the stove, and cook stirring continuously till the sauce boils.
1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp white pepper (freshly ground) 1/4 tsp nutmeg (I skipped this one)	Remove from heat and add salt, pepper and nutmeg
1 cup crumbled feta cheese 1/4 cup minced dill (I skipped this one too)	Drain pasta and spinach and transfer to serving bowl. Add the sauce, feta cheese and dill. Mix well. Serve with garlic bread.

One dish to rule them all, one dish to find them, one dish to bring them all and in the heat of the stove, bind them. erm... the essential food groups (carbs, protein, fat, fibre and minerals) I mean :-)

Visit Sweetnicks place to read this week's ARF roundup!

How Far Can I Push The Pantry (HFCIPTP) # 3: Pasta sauce

Here is another in the series of using up stuff in my pantry to whip up balanced meals. A few thoughtful opening and closing of pantry and refrigerator doors later, I had my mind made up. It was going to be pasta that day with ready made sauce. Then as I put the pot of water on the stove and waited for it to boil, I remembered Indira's recipe of pasta sauce which used peanuts. That got my mind scheming on how I can adapt that recipe to my limited pantry. After a few seconds, the answer seemed obvious.

This is why I love blogging and blog hopping. I find myself spending less and less time pondering about whats for dinner. Thank to all fellow food bloggers for sharing the seemingly mundane details of what you had for dinner/lunch!

On to the sauce... lets give it a name "Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy burgers". I don't have a picture of this yet, but it was delicious (for now you have to just take my word for it)! Will update with the pic soon.

Roasted Pepper sauce with peanuts and soy
2 cups roughly chopped bell peppers 1/2 cup roasted peanuts 1 frozen veggie burger, thawed and chopped 2 tsp olive oil	Heat oil in a skillet, add the chopped peppers and roast well untill browned. You may also use onions in this step if you have some in your pantry. Add roasted peanuts and chopped burger and cook till the the burger is slightly browned as well. Cool and process in a blender to desired smoothness/chunkiness.
2 cups Ragu pasta sauce (Optionally, use canned or fresh tomatoes) 2 tsp sugar grated parmesan/romano cheese to taste	Return the blended pepper mixture to the skillet and add the tomato sauce and sugar. Stir until heated though.Serve over cooked pasta,topped with grated cheese and crushed pepper.

The sauce was ready with the pasta and tasted great for a last minute meal.