Cumin spiced zucchini, garlic & pepper Spaghetti pasta | Healthy dinner under 30 minutes

I am gradually becoming a pro in whipping up dinners quickly. Correction. Healthy dinners quickly. Meals which have taste and nutrition, and where I can combine our Indian flavours with the cuisine from rest of the world. And so far, its working great for me!

Like this Spaghetti pasta which I prepared in 45 minutes straight. And half of this time, I wasn’t even there in the kitchen.  So technically it takes less than half an hour to do the preps and the later half is simply the cooking which you don’t really need to intervene into.

Lately I have become a huge fan of one pot pasta meals and I have them at least once a week. Especially when I have a few vegetables lying around in the fridge which are not in sufficient quantity to be cooked into a single dish. And also, since I love my pasta with a lot of sauce, and a bit slurp-y. I get both these things when I cook them as a single dish, rather than boiling pasta separately and mixing with the sauce. And that also saves time, so serves the purpose right!

This one was one such experiment where I was only left with one Zucchini (courgette) and one yellow pepper from the Omelette which I made Sunday morning. And my soul purpose of throwing these together into pasta was to finish these up. Luckily, it did turn into a great combo in taste (just by chance) and a super easy and healthy meal. Like this Roasted tomato, spinach and basil pasta, which BTW I just made yesterday too.

I have used lots of garlic in this too. I can never prepare Pasta without garlic in it. It’s like a holy combo for me. Garlic in sauce = Excellent Pasta.

So there it is, a super simple recipe for a super tasty meal. It has a lot of fibre, Vitamins A, B and C, antioxidants, Calcium and Omega-3 as well. Does make that a complete deal, isn’t it?

More Italian dishes-> Spinach and cheese Risotto | 15 minutes Vegetable noodle pasta | Broccoli Mac n cheese | Gnocchi  in Indian curry sauce 

What you need?

• 1 medium sized zucchini,  peeled and diced
• 1 bell pepper (capsicum), chopped small
• 3-4 garlic pods, minced or crushed
• 1 onion, chopped
• About 100 gms of pasta
• 2 cups of water or more if required
• A dash of cream or full cream milk (optional) 
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• Salt to taste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp Olive oil

How to make?

Heat oil in a wok or pan. Add in cumin seeds and let them sizzle. Add in garlic and onion and fry for about a minute. Add in chopped vegetables along with salt, mix well. Sauté for about 5-7 minutes on medium gas setting

Now, add 2 cups water and bring it to a boil at high flame. Once it starts to boil, throw in the pasta, cover the wok/pan and let it cook for about 10-12 minutes at medium gas. Stir a few times in between.

Open up the pan and  check the texture of pasta which should be almost cooked. See if the sauce requires more water or if its too much, let it cook open for a few more minutes and let it dry up. Spread the cream (or milk) and fold with fork once. 

Season with black pepper, grate some Parmesan on top and serve immediately

Notes:

You may add tomatoes as well along with the pepper and courgette. You may also add butter to make it even more tempting and slurp-y.
To make this recipe vegan, simply omit Parmesan cheese and cream. You may also add some thick coconut milk on top instead. 

 

If you like One pot Pasta meals, you should try this awesome recipe of Spaghetti in Rich tomato sauce. This is one of my all time favourite and this blog’s most viewed too.