Pasta with Broccoli and Tomatoes

I have already mentioned in my previous posts, that I am a crazy fan of Italian food. I have shared several pizza and pasta recipes already in my site, some of which are – Pasta in broccoli sauce, Creamless creamy penne pasta, Baked pasta, Cony crust pizza, deep-dish pizza, multi-grain pizza and many more.

Today, I share another version of pasta recipe that doesn’t need marinara/pasta sauce. I simply add tomato paste along with some herbs and seasoning to make a quick-style recipe. Do try this out and let me know how you like it !!

Serves: 2

Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Pasta – 1 cup (I used thin-style pasta)

Garlic cloves – 2 (finely chopped)

Dried basil – 1 tsp (May use fresh leaves instead)

Red chili flakes – ½ tsp (May use red chili powder instead)

Broccoli florets – 1/8 cup

Cherry tomatoes/regular tomatoes – ¼ cup (I used cherry tomatoes)

Tomato paste – ½ cup (Tomatoes blended to a smooth paste)

Onion – 1, small (finely chopped)

Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp (very finely chopped)

Butter/oil – 1 tbsp

Salt – to taste

Pepper powder – 1 tsp

Procedure:

Boil about 4-5 cups of water in a large vessel. Add a pinch of salt and ½ tsp oil to it. This will prevent the pasta from sticking together.
Add the pasta and cook as per the instructions on the packet. Mine need 7 minutes to cook. After about 5 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets to the pasta and let cook till the pasta is done.
Strain the pasta-broccoli and place it in cold water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large pan and add the oil/butter, red chili flakes, garlic, dried basil and onions. Saute for a minute.
Add the cherry tomatoes and give a good stir.
Pour in the tomato paste, add salt to taste and pepper powder. Fry till the mixture becomes dry and the paste is well cooked, about 3 minutes.
Then add the pasta-broccoli and combine well. Remove from heat and serve with a sprinkle of fresh coriander or parsley leaves.

Note: