Healthy recipe: One pot whole-wheat pasta

Convenient, nutritious and environment friendly: What more could you ask in a pasta dish?

The thing that bores me the most about making pasta is that you need multiple pots and pans to cook. One pan to boil the pasta, other to cook the sauce and another one to assemble the two. It doesn't stop there. Nobody wants to do the dishes and one scapegoat (usually me) has to slog by the kitchen sink trying to scrape the bits and pieces from the pans. And think of all the water you are wasting on three utensils! Don't fret! Instead of your usual pasta recipe try this easy one-pot recipe made in the interest of the hungry, lazy environment freak.

But convenience is not the only highlight of this dish. We are using whole-wheat pasta for this recipe which is more nutritious than its regular counterpart. It has more fiber and nutrients than refined pasta, but it also has a slightly different taste and texture. Read: Recipe for whole wheat pizza bread.

Ingredients

2 cups of whole wheat paste (any shape of your preference)

5 cloves of garlic

3 dried chilies broken

2 cups of tomato pulp

1 tomato chopped

2 pinches of Italian seasoning (mix of oregano, sage, thyme, rosemary and dried basil)

A handful of fresh basil leaves

One tablespoon of cooking oil, preferably olive

Salt to taste

Pepper (optional)

Method:

Heat oil in a flat pan and add the chopped garlic, the chilli and the Italian seasoning. Once the garlic turns golden, add the chopped tomatoes and saut . Add the tomato pulp to the mixture and toss the pasta into it. Fill the pan with water till the pasta is completely submerged. Add the salt and cook on a high flame. Once the pasta water comes to a boil, stir the mixture every once in a while with a spatula so that the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom. Check every once in a while to see if the pasta has turned al dente.

Ensure some of the pasta water stays in the pan. This will serve as the saucy base for the pasta. Take it off the heat. Roughly chop the basil leaves and garnish. Season with some pepper powder. Those who love cheese can always add it in the end. Serve hot.

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