GO- GREEN PASTA -GUEST POST BY NANDITA PAI

                       Iv been blogging for about 9 months now….and quite often Iv seen bloggers inviting other bloggers to do a guest post on their blog! sounds like fun right? well…..

                      About a month ago I bumped into Nandita on google plus! She’s from the same city as me, down south in India and in no time we were chatting like old friends!  YES! Iv never met her or spoken to her before!

                      So, If im going to ask someone to do a guest post on my blog its GOT to be Nandita Pai. She’s got a lovely page with over 80 recipes! phew! She’s definitely got a talent for baking …..be it cupcakes or cakes or even buns!! Iv been eyeing her vanilla cupcakes with butterscotch and choco chips. You’ll definitely see it on my blog soon 😉

                      I love the way she plays with her pasta sauces…..makes it so healthy trying out various veggie combos! ………..pumpkin…spinach…!!! who would have thought???
She has a huge array of vegetarian side dishes and stuffed parathas…..YUM!! Just like her blog name….Nans Yum Yums!!

                     For todays guest post on my blog, she has cooked up an absolutely healthy, delicious pasta dish……..Over to you Nan……:)

Yay! My first guest post! And when it’s for a good blogger friend, it’s even more delightful!! 😀
I have known Farah for a few months now, and her posts are something I wait for! Her delicious recipes and witty comments make me smile every time I am at her page  Glad to do a guest post for u Farah…. Here goes!

It is a real delight to see something that you have imagined up in your head to turn out so perfect and good to eat. This makes you want to go again and experiment some more. This is exactly what is happening to me currently. I am in that experimental frenzy when it comes to Pasta.

After my successful attempt at bringing to the table an unusual pairing in pumpkin and spinach pasta, I have been itching to try out yet another pasta variety. And having made a Red, White and a Yellow Pasta… I wanted to Go-green! 😛

So when Farah asked me to do a guest post for her, I did not have to think too much to decide what am going to make for her! 😀

 I checked my fridge to see what I have in hand to get a green sauce. Spinach! Oh yes, that would give me a rich green sauce. Then just to add some flavour, I chose to team it up with some green peas too.

So with my base as a healthy Spinach and Green Peas sauce… and an interesting combination of Broccoli, Capsicum and Baby corn as the veggies to accompany my pasta, I took off and created this Pasta in Green Sauce 🙂

 A must try for a pasta lover!

Pasta – 2 cups
Capsicum – 1 cup, thinly sliced
Baby Corn – 1 cup – thinly sliced
Broccoli – 1 cup, small florets
Onion – 1 medium, sliced
Green peas – 1/2 cup
Spinach – 1 bunch (1 1/2 cup chopped leaves)
Olive Oil – 2 tbsp
Pasta Seasoning – 2 tsp
Red Chilli Flakes – 2 tsp
Pepper Powder – 2 tsp
Salt – to taste
Cheese – to taste

• Put the pasta in a pan of water, such that all of the pasta is covered with water. Cook for a few minutes until the pasta turns slightly soft. Check if you can cut the pasta with a fork, if yes, they are done. Strain the water and keep aside the pasta for later use.

• Thinly slice the capsicum, baby corn and onions. Cut broccoli into tiny florets.

• Par boil baby corn and broccoli, drain water and keep aside.

• Roughly chop the spinach bunch. Place the chopped leaves in a microwave safe bowl, pour in the green peas in the same bowl and microwave for a minute.

• Take it off the microwave after a minute and allow to cool.

• Once cooled, grind into a smooth paste by adding little water, not much. Keep aside.

• Heat oil in a pan and add the sliced onions.

• Once they turn slightly brown, add in the capsicum slices.

• Allow to cook for a few minutes and then add in the par boiled baby corn and broccoli florets.

• Add salt and half the pasta seasoning and stir well.

• Pour in the green peas – spinach puree in the pan and mix well to bring in all the ingredients together.

•  Now, add the cooked pasta and combine all the ingredients well.

• Add pepper powder, chilli flakes and mix well.

• Garnish with grated cheese and serve hot with garlic toast or simple butter toast. 

•  If you like it a little creamier, you can add a mixture of 1 cup milk with a teaspoon of corn flour and another teaspoon of all purpose flour/maida. The colour may turn lighter green, but you would end up making your pasta gcreamier if you like it that way! 🙂