Red Sauce Pasta

Volume

Quantities for 6-8 people.

Ingredients

- 500g fusili/penne pasta

  - water
  - 1 tbsp oil
  - 1 tsp salt
- 8 tbsp oil (6 olive oil + 2 red chilli oil is preferable)
- 1 garlic
- Vegetables of choice (3 tomoatoes, 2 onions, 1 capsicum is recommended. A little olive, corn and mushroom can be added.)
- 700g of ready made red sauce (2 jars)

- 4 tbsp red chilli powder (quantity as per personal choice)
- Salt to taste (quantity decided during cooking)
- 100g grated mozzarella cheese
- 3 limes

Other Requirements

- Sauce pan + Spatula
- Strainer

Steps to Prepare

Video used for inspiration, covering most of the steps : red sauce pasta

1. Boil the Pasta

  1. Pour enough water in the suace pan to hold all of the pasta.
  2. Add 1 tbsp of oil and 1 tsp of salt into the water as it boils.
  3. Once the water begins to boil (little air bubbles visible), add the pasta to the water.

  4. After 10 minutes check if the pasta has been cooked (soft enough to cut through with spoon).

  5. Strain the water out and store the pasta in a container (could be the same sauce pan).

2. Preparing the Red Sauce

  1. Chop the vegetables into appropriate sized pieces (small enough to fit into a spoon/fork full of pasta, but not too fine).

  2. The total volume of vegetables can be decided as per personal choice. It is recommended that the total volume of vegetables should be around 0.25 he volume of the pasta (after boiling) (keep in mind veggies shrink in size after being sauted).
  3. Add 8 tbsp of oil (ideally 6tbsp of olive oil and 2 tbsp of chilli oil for flavour) to the sauce pan and allow the oil to get hot.
  4. Once the oil is hot, reduce the flame to the minimum and add the chopped garlic.

  5. Before the garlic browns, and once the garlic smell becomes stronger, add the chopped onion. At this stage 1 tbsp of red chilli powder and a tsp of salt can be added.

  6. Allow the onion to brown and caramelise a little bit before adding all other veggies stirring. Now the remaining 3 tbsp of red chilli powder (and other spices) can be added.

  7. Toss the vegetables around in the pan and cook them.
  8. Once the vegetables have been cooked a little and soaked in the spices, open 2 jars of red sauce and add them to the pan. Empty all contents of the jar using a little bit of water (which should be added to the sauce for a little more liquidity).
  9. Stir and cook the sauce until most of the water has evaporated and it has a liquidy paste consistency. Add salt and any other spices (pepper, garam/chaat masala/red chilli powder) as desired, until the taste of the sauce matches the requirements.

3. Putting it Together

  1. Pour the red sauce with vegies into the sauce pan with the pasta. Mix it thoroughly and keep the flame on low to medium until the whole dish is warm and the pasta has soaked in some of the sauce. Make sure not to allow the pasta to get too dry in the process.

Best served with garlic bread and juice. Grated mozzarella can also be sprinkled on while serving. Provide chilli flaskes, oregano, pepper, tabasco and a wedge of lime along with serving.