Rainbow Pasta with Home-made Sauce
Author: 
Cuisine: Vegetarian, Vegan*, Gluten Free*
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
A delicious beautiful looking pasta recipe with quick home made tangy tomato sauce.
Ingredients
  • SAUCE INGREDIENTS -
  • 6 large ripe-juicy tomatoes, cut into big cubes OR 2x cans of peeled whole tomatoes
  • 1 cup canned tomato sauce (8 oz can)
  • ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes
  • 1-2 green chilies (optional)
  • 5 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon black pepper, freshly cracked
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1¼ tablespoons dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon chili flakes
  • handful of fresh basil leaves, chiffonade or chopped
  • salt to taste
  • PASTA INGREDIENTS -
  • 4 cups of pasta ( that has ridges- i used radiators)
  • salt and water to boil pasta
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup onion, chopped lengthwise
  • 1 cup broccoli, cut into florets
  • 1 cup mushrooms (button or baby-bella), sliced
  • 1 cup carrots, cut into thick discs
  • 1 cup zucchini, sliced
  • 1 cup yellow squash, sliced
  • 1 cup green bell pepper, diced
  • 2 cups red, yellow, orange bell peppers, diced
  • salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
  • parmesan cheese, grated, as required
  • basil for garnish (optional)
  • salt to taste
Method
  1. Grab a sauce pan and add olive oil, immediately add the crushed garlic and cook for 45 seconds or so. Be careful not to burn the garlic.
  2. Add chopped tomatoes and canned tomato sauce and if you like little bit of heat then go ahead and add those green chilies, for less heat add de-seeded green chili or simply skip them for no heat.
  3. Add freshly ground black pepper, oregano, chili flakes, half of the basil, brown sugar and salt to taste.
  4. Break the tomatoes with wooden spoon or use a potato masher, i like to leave few chunks as is while breaking them with the wooden spoon.
  5. Add sun dried tomatoes and let it simmer for 20 mins.
  6. Add the remaining basil, stir and set aside.
  7. In a Large pan or pot, get your pasta boiling in salted water and cook them until al-dente or as per the package instructions.
  8. Drain the pasta and set it aside. Reserve some of the pasta water if you like your sauce on thinner side to add to the sauce later.
  9. In the same pan heat (on medium-high) couple tablespoons of olive oil, add freshly cracked black pepper.
  10. Add onion and let it cook for a minute.
  11. Add carrots and zucchini first. The idea is to add hard veggies first and let them cook for a minute.
  12. Add rest of the veggies and cook it like stir fry. We want them to be cooked but retain the crunch.
  13. Add salt to taste.
  14. Lower the heat and add the tomato sauce. Coat all veggies well with the sauce.
  15. Add boiled pasta, stir again gently.
  16. Garnish with grated parmesan cheese and a spring of basil.(optional)
  17. Serve immediately.
My Notes
MUST - use tomatoes that are ripe and juicy i.e. tomatoes on the vine

OR - use canned tomatoes, an Italian chef once told me, canned tomatoes are harvested and canned at the peak of the season so using them in pasta and pizza sauce is ideal, unless you are living in Italy!

Sun-dried tomatoes is an addition, i believe it adds an extra depth of flavor and i love the chewy rustic texture of it. If you do not add it, its still okay.

Use pasta that has ridges on them, that way sauce sticks better on it!

Go easy on the red chili flakes if you cant handle the heat, same goes with green chilies.

If you do not have fresh basil, substitute with 1 tablespoon of dried basil, it will have a small flavor variation though.

Skip the cheese to make it Vegan* OR add vegan-cheese and Use Gluten Free pasta to make it GF*
Recipe by at https://www.urbancilantro.com/rainbow-pasta-with-homemade-sauce/