A pasta with some lentils and vegetables and cheese, of course! Perfect for dinner or for the lunchbox!
Ojas is a very picky eater, very choosy about what he eats and even if he likes something, he eats it very less. But one thing that he really likes eating is pasta (a big kala tikka and touchwood here).
So I try and make it very often and also try and make it as healthy as possible. This one is one of my own creations that comes out really yummy and is highly nutritious. I add some lentils like moong dal to the sauce so that Ojas gets his share of proteins. I also add vegetables to it, so that Ojas manages to eat some vegetables at least.
In fact, I have tried so many variations of pasta for him. And thankfully he has liked each of them. A quick search on the blog will tell you that I do love making pasta regularly at home and have a lot of recipes to fall back on. The good part about adding cheese to the hot dish is that it actually enhances the taste of the dish and melts slightly to give that delicious gooey feel to the dish.
I think this is one dish we all fall back on the days we are really tired and want to cook something simple. Just boil the pasta, mix the sauce (if you are like me, you would just make a huge batch of marnina pasta/pizza sauce and store it in the freezer to use whenever you wanted to!) Add a few vegetables of your choice and you have a super meal in hand. Pair it up with a crunchy salad if you want and you are done with the vegetable intake for the day.
Delicious and super easy to make pasta recipe!
Meal in a box
Ingredients
For the sauce - Part 1 ingredients
- 1/2 cup moong dal yellow
- 10 tomatoes ripe and red
- 1/2 capsicum chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1 bunch spinach
Part 2 ingredients
- 1 onion large finely chopped
- 1/2 capsicum finely chopped
- 1/4 cup Peas
- 1/4 corn
- 1 carrot chopped
- 1/2 - 1 cup cheese grated
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp pepper powder
- 1 tsp oregano or any other dried spices
- to taste salt
- 200 gm whole wheat pasta boiled
Instructions
- Wash and boil the moong dal in a cooker well. Mash it a bit.
- Blanch the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes in boiling water.
- Remove the skin and keep aside.
- Par-boil rest of the Part 1 vegetables and then grind all the part 1 ingredients to make a smooth paste.
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom pan and then add onions to it.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes till they start changing color.
- Add the carrots, capsicum, peas and corn and stir fry for 5 minutes or so (You can also choose to parboil these veggies)
- Add salt, pepper and oregano (You can also add some chilli flakes if you want it spicy)
- Add the sauce prepared above and let it cook in medium flame for about 10 mins.
- Add the shredded cheese and boiled pasta to it..Mix well and serve hot.
Looks yummy 🙂 Have just discovered the delights of lasagne 🙂 Any easy recipes to try?
And sauces for pasts 🙂 This one I will def. try! Thanks for sharing it!
The sad thing is, we do not get good enough pasta or even lasagne sheets; wl have to import from some metro nearby, Lol!
OOHHHH !!! Yummy….certainly a variation worth trying… 😛
But if u add that moong dhal, tomato + veggies sauce, doesn’t it make it more thick base for the pasta ????
But the technique is good to stuff veggies, which the kids pick out while eating. 🙂
And that looks absolutely delicious!!!! Great idea to add the dhal, never tried it earlier.
my sister loves pasta ..will forward this post’s link to her!
Wow…moong dal! now thats an interesting combo…shall try it next time…the Munchkin loves pasta too and I pretty much make a similar sauce(w/o moong dal so far)…..I also tend to add some protein in the form of a cut up sausage or shredded chicken
Moong Dal? Does it give a desi taste to the pasta? I must try it … but I hope the family does not find it desi
Wow! You rock! 🙂
Wow! Daal with pasta, that is something new. Must give it a try!
Yummmyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!! 😀
And get well soon dear!!!! (((hugs)))
sorry, but I think i missed where you added the dal to the pasta?
i am going to have to try this! dal in pasta..this takes healthy eating to a whole new level 🙂
awesome .. I make it just like this but minus the moong dal 😉 . quick and filling .. the other way is the traditional Arabiata sauce . will give it a try . Thanks for sharing this