Search This Blog

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

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



12 comments:

  1. looks so colorful and yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pasta is our absolute favorite and it looks so colorful. Thx for linking to the event.

    Vardhini
    CooksJoy

    ReplyDelete
  3. loved the Almond Pesto in it ! penne is my fav too-this is a dish that would get my daughter crooning !

    ReplyDelete
  4. would love to feast on the colourful dish!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yum yum,my kids will definitely love this delicious penne..

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks extremely appealing :) YUM!
    Please do me the favor of removing the word scramble Gauri dear! -drives me nuts rey - every time takes 3 -4 attempts to get the dang thing right!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Loved the idea of almond pesto. I usually add walnuts. Looks delicious. Must try!

    Chef Al dente New monthly series: Meal of the Month! Send in your entries for April now...

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear I have nominated you for an award.please drop in and collect your award :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for pointing that out, Gauri - I have fixed it now, but the method was identical -- xo

    ReplyDelete