Colorful Penne in Creamy Pesto

Penne is by far my most preferred kind of pasta. It works well with any kind of sauce and veggies and the shape is also very pleasant to look at!

This colorful recipe is easy to put together, provided you have pesto sauce at hand, if not then add a couple minutes more to your cooking time. The bell peppers give this pasta dish a nice crunch and color and the pesto of course lends it the delicious flavor.

Ingredients

Whole wheat penne – 1 cup

Colored bell peppers – 1 cup (chopped or sliced)

Carrots – ½ cup (chopped or sliced)

Almond Pesto – 4 tsp

Italian seasoning – 1 tsp

Milk – ¼ cup

Parmesan cheese – 4 tsp

Water – 4 cups

Olive Oil – 1 tsp

Butter – 1 tsp

Salt & Pepper

Boil water and season it with oil, salt and water. Cook pasta in that water as per package directions, drain and set aside. Heat butter in a skillet and sauté the carrots and bell peppers for a couple of minutes. Season the vegetables with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.  Mix in the pesto sauce and cooked pasta. Add milk and parmesan cheese. Gently stir all the ingredients so that they blend in together. Sprinkle pepper and more cheese if desired and serve this colorful pasta hot!

Serving suggestions

·         With soup/salad.

Tips

·        Any kind of dry herbs like parsley, basil, oregano etc., can be used in absence of Italian seasoning.

·        You can add any colored vegetables of your choice; just make sure you don’t overcook them so that they retain their crunchy texture.

·    Mexican blend grated cheese goes well with this kind of pasta in combination with parmesan cheese.

·       Pesto can last up to a week in the refrigerator and can also be frozen for later use
·         Store bought Pesto also works well with this dish.

  Interesting fact

·         Bell pepper is an excellent source of Vitamin A & C, both very powerful anti-oxidants.


This colorful pasta is going to:
http://cooksjoy.com/blog/2012/04/healthy-diet-vegetarian-side-dishes-event-announcement/
http://priyaeasyntastyrecipes.blogspot.com/2012/01/healthy-diet-event-host-line-up.html