Serves: 4
Time: 15 mins
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| Roasted Red Pepper Pasta |
I had my last exam yesterday, which means that my first year at uni as a nutrition student is officially over and it's now the summer holidays! I celebrated last night at the beach, with my housemates, a few drinks, snacks, music and beach games and it really was the perfect way to end our first year. I've got a couple of weeks til I move back home, to relax and hopefully do lots of cooking too, which I'm really looking forward to and if the weather holds out I'll also be back at the beach. There really is nothing more therapeutic than the feel of sand between your toes and the sound of the waves breaking on the shore and I am so grateful to live so near to the beach, especially as next year sounds pretty stressful!
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| Roasted Red Pepper Pasta |
The sauce for this pasta is so easy to make, using a 'cheat' ingredient of pre-roasted red peppers from a jar (Jamie Oliver uses them, so I can too, right?) and the use of silken tofu, for a creamy sauce that's delicious & much lower in calories than a nut based sauce. There's nothing wrong with sauces made from nuts, but you can't eat them everyday and I absolutely love creamy sauces; mixed in with some wholewheat pasta and veg and you can't go wrong! I'd never used silken tofu before today, and for those of you who haven't either, it's found in the store cupboard section of supermarkets, rather than the fresh aisles, it is much softer than the extra firm tofu you've probably tried before and when blended, turns to liquid to act as a cream substitute in this dish.
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| Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Pasta |
This meal is not only healthy but so easy and quick to make, being pulled together in 15 minutes, great for everyday cooking. If you want to make it spicy then add slightly more cayenne pepper, or if making for people who don't like spice then leave it out altogether. I found that there was some left over sauce after it had been added to the pasta, you can either cook more pasta if making for more than four people or pour the excess into a jar and store in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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| Roasted Red Pepper Pasta |
You'll need:
- Blender
- Baking tray
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Small frying pan
- Saucepan
- Colander
- Wooden spoon
Ingredients:
- 3 cups dried wholewheat pasta
- 1 block silken tofu
- 3-4 roasted red peppers
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic (unpeeled)
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp salt
- pinch black pepper
- pinch cayenne pepper (optional)
- 1 medium courgette
- 1 husk sweetcorn
- A few large handfuls rocket
Method:
- Place two cloves of unpeeled garlic on a baking tray and roast for 10 minutes at 200°C.
- Boil the pasta until al dente (10-12 minutes) and drain.
- Meanwhile, chop the courgette and sautee for a few minutes on a medium heat until it starts to brown, then run your knife down the sides of the husk to remove the corn and add to the pan for a further few minutes, then turn off the heat and place to one side.
- Add the garlic, peppers, lemon juice, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper to the blender and blend until a smooth sauce has formed.
- Add the sauce to the pasta (you may not need all of it!), along with the courgette, sweetcorn and rocket and stir together. Serve up and enjoy! Cassidy xx
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| Roasted Red Pepper Pasta |
