Pasta with sauted vegetables

 
                        Pasta With sauted Vegetables
 
 Recipe By     : Heidi Rabel
 Serving Size  : 4    Preparation Time :0:15
 Categories    : Vegetable                        Pasta
 
   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
 --------  ------------  --------------------------------
    1      pound         fresh pasta -- 1/2 pound dried
    2      tablespoons   extra virgin olive oil
    2      cloves        garlic -- peeled and sliced
    3      cups          prepped raw vegetables
                         such as onion, pepper, squash, 
                         mushrooms, eggplant, spinach, or chard
      1/4  cup           fresh basil -- chopped
    1      large         tomato
                         peeled, seeded, and chopped
      1/4  teaspoon      red pepper flakes -- crushed
                         kosher salt -- to taste
      1/2  cup           Parmesan cheese -- grated
 
 Bring 1 gallon of water to a boil in a large pot. Add dried pasta, and cook to
 al dente-to the tooth- (just soft enough so that it still must be chewed).
 Drain in a colander. For fresh pasta, turn the heat down to low, cover the pot
 and hold water on warm until the vegetables are almost done before you cook
 the pasta. Put oil and garlic into a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium
 and cook the garlic just until it begins to color, not beyond or it will burn
 and be bitter. Add the vegetables in the order that they will cook, starting
 with those that will take the longest. Move them constantly with a spatula so
 they will not overcook in one spot. For fresh pasta, reboil the water at this
 point, and cook the pasta during final minutes of cooking the vegetables.
 Drain. Add the herbs to the vegetables and mix to distribute. When the
 vegetables are almost cooked (still a bit too crunchy), add canned tomato and
 crushed pepper flakes, turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 3-4 minutes
 to blend the flavors. Taste and add kosher salt if necessary.
 
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 NOTES : This quick, easy, and straight forward pasta recipe has been dinner
 hundreds of times in my house. Timing is important: fresh pasta cooks in 3 - 5
 minutes, but dried pasta takes up to 12 - 15 minutes. I usually cook dried
 pasta first, drain it, toss it with 1 1/2 tbsp. olive oil and cover it while
 the vegetables cook. To serve, transfer the cooked, drained pasta to the
 plates (with tongs) or to a pasta platter. Ladle the vegetables over the pasta
 and garnish each serving with 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese. Yield: 4 servings.
 
 Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 4204 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0