Being on a plant based whole food diet really sparks your creativity! How do you achieve a robust taste while consuming enough protein to make your meal sustainable? This particular recipe emerged from desperation and extreme hunger.
What’s that expression? Necessity is the mother of
Invention? Well this was clearly the case here. I had just gotten home from a week’s trip in Rome and I was starving! No groceries to speak of ):
Fortunately I always have pasta in the cupboard. There are always onions and garlic in the house! And I just happened to have peppers and parmesan cheese and luckily there was basil and spinach in the garden.
Surprisingly the combination was delightful. Here’s my recipe below:
INGREDIENTS
- 4 small peppers
- 1 red onion
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 1 c spinach
- 1 can of cannellini beans
- 1lb penne pasta
- 1/2 c basil
- 1/4 c white wine
- 1 tsp oregano
- Garlic salt
- Pepper
- Olive oil
- 1/2 c of pasta water, vegetarian stock or veggie chicken stock
- 1/2 c parmesan cheese
- Black Olives (optional)
HOW TO MAKE PENNE PASTA WITH PEPPERS
1. Chop peppers. I cut small rings from each color of pepper for a garnish and set them aside. This step is optional. The rest of the peppers were chopped in pieces
2. Chop onions and garlic
3. Cook Pasta al dente, drain and set aside. Be sure to save 1 cup of pasta water.
4. In the same pot, saute peppers in olive oil
5. Add salt and cook 3-5 minutes or until soft
6. Add onions and garlic and stir for 2-3 minutes
7. Add oregano, wine, pasta water
8. Add cannellini beans and stir
9. Add cooked pasta, garlic salt and pepper
10. Add parmesan cheese and toss
11. Add more seasonings as needed
12. Add 1/2 c chopped Greek olives (optional)
How about you? What creative masterpieces have you invented? Would love to hear your ideas in the comment section below.
