Nivi's Marinara Pasta

Ingredients:

Penne/Rotini Pasta-1/2 pack

Garlic-1 or 2 cloves, smashed or minced finely

Basil leaves-Few or you can use dry basil leaves powder too

Italian Seasoning Powder-1/4 tsp

Marinara Sauce-2 cups

Olive oil or butter-1/4/tsp

Red chilli flakes- As per your taste

Shredded mexican cheese-1/4 cup

Vegetables of your choice- sliced.

Procedure:

1.Boil pasta with olive oil and salt until done and drain. Save a little of the cooked pasta water for later.

2. In another pan, add olive oil or butter, garlic,vegetables of your choice and saute.

3.Now add the boiled pasta and cheese and the powders and mix well with the marinara sauce. 4.Add little of the pasta water if the sauce is too thick.

5. Serve hot in a bowl.

Penne Pasta with Broccoli pesto on the fly

I had basil growing at home and yesterday felt like pasta night. As I was just confirming the recipe of basil pesto online, I chanced on this recipe for a broccoli pesto. I was curious and cynical at the same time. So the recipe evolved depending on what I was feeling when!

First I went ahead and made a classic basil pesto.
pinenuts - 1/2 a cup
basil - I harvested two cups but used maybe half a cup.
olive oil - 2 tbsp
garlic powder - 1 tsp
cayenne (dried) red chilly - 2

Blend all the ingredients together. Add enough olive oil to make a paste to facilitate blending. I do not like the leafy pesto they serve in some restaurants. I just added enough basil leaves to make the pesto green but left it in the creamy state that the pinenuts and olive oil contribute to.

I wanted to make a white sauce but didn't have any butter in the house. Loads of cream sitting in my freezer (from the Farmers All Natural Creamery milk) just wouldn't thaw fast enough so I could whip some butter. In comes the broccoli.

Broccoli cream sauce (serves 2-3)
Broccoli stalks - 1 small head
Milk/Cream or a combination - 1.5 - 2 cups
Pesto - 1 tsp (from above)
leaf oregano - to taste
Fresh ground pepper
salt

Cut up the stalks of broccoli and keep the broccoli florets aside. Add water to stalks to submerge and simmer till soft. Blend the cooked broccoli stalks and simmer and stir with the milk till the sauce thickens. Remove from fire a little before the desired consistency is achieved since the sauce thickens further on cooling. Add freshly ground pepper, salt, oregano or other herbs, and 1 tsp of the pesto. By the time you finish you would hardly taste the stalks in the sauce. The sauce tastes very much like the basil pesto cream sauce you find in restaurants.

Roasted vegetables:
Bake vegetables of your choice (I used 1 small head broccoli chopped, 1 sliced onion, 1 bell pepper and 1 tomato deseeded) tossed in olive oil, salt and crushed red clilli flakes at 450 F for around 15 minutes. To our surprise, broccoli tasted the best with the pasta.

Make a pasta bowl with penne cooked with olive oil and salt, the roasted vegetables and sauce. Granish with basil leaves and even basil flowers (found out that they were very much edible)
Enjoy!

Update: tried the same with cauliflower (I liked it but G thought the broccoli sauce was better)
To do: try with squash