Sunday 21 August 2011

Joyful Vegetarian Tomato Pasta




Ingredients
1 lb Penne
  • 7 fresh tomatoes(chopped)
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 2 stalks celery(cubed)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2/4 cup unsalted roasted almonds, chopped
  • 4 slices of cheddar cheese, cubed (ran out of parmesan cheese ): )
  • 2 fresh chilli padi(chopped)
  • cherry tomatoes( for garnishing purpose)

Method:
1. Cook penne according to directions. Cook to al dente.
2. When the pasta has cooked, drain and let it cool down a bit.  Mix in olive oil (enough to lightly coat the pasta) to prevent the penne from sticking to each other

3.Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Place tomatoes into ice water to ensure it is cool enough to handle. Then remove peel and squeeze out seeds.

4. Add 3 spoonful of olive oil into the sauce pan, then cubed celery, chilli padi and carrots.
Stir in chopped tomatoes and add one cup of water, then bring to a boil. Then season to taste with salt, pepper, and 2 spoonful of tomato paste. 


5.When the sauce is ready, add in the cooked penne and mix well.
Then top with chopped roasted almond and cheddar. It is now ready to be served, garnished with cherry tomatoes

I tweaked the original recipe for my own traditional tomato pasta while preparing lunch for my family today.
 I was so relieved that I did not receive any complaints but ,much to my surprise and delight, some compliments from my personal strictest food critic- my father. 
So, i guess this tweaked recipe turned out successful! 
Personally, I was quite pleased with the outcome of this recipe. The chopped roasted almonds brought a pleasant crunch, and blended well with the sweetness of the tomato.
However, I had slightly underestimated the amount of sauce to serve four. i would advice that more water should be added to avoid  sauce getting too thick or insufficient and let it boil down to the right amount.
I dont know if you have noticed, but I have used celery leaves for  garnishing purpose as I ran out of basil leaves. (please dont laugh!)

xo

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