Pasta Italiano!

This is in response to a new blog I came across wherein I bumped into my favorite thing to eat any time of the day - Pasta. If you know me, you already know of my love for pasta-eating and making alike. Considering this blog is called Dinner Conversations, food was bound to end up here sooner or later. This is much later than what I would have expected from myself.(read: I looovee FOOD!)

So I thought I'd jot down some things I randomly put in the pasta I enjoy.


Ingredients:
1/4 lb your favorite pasta. I like Linguine.
4 cloves Garlic
4-5 fresh basil chopped haphazardly
2 fresh red chillies seeded and chopped coarsely
2 tsp finely chopped parsley for garnish
2 tsp of coarsely crushed roasted pine nuts for garnish
hint of freshly ground black pepper
5-6 slices of zucchini
2 stems of asparagus cut into 1 inch portions
4-5 medium sized florets of broccoli
7-8 long strips of Red/orange/yellow bell peppers(went for non green because too much of green happening with zucchini, asparagus and broccoli)
2 shitaki or oyster mushrooms sliced.
half a chicken breast for non-vegetarians cut into bite size strips
Olive oil/vegetable oil
1 tablespoon butter
parmesan cheese to finish
some chili flakes if you enjoy it hot
(dare I forget) Salt to taste.


Preparation:
Boil the linguine with enough excess water and a teaspoonful or more of salt for 10 minutes(I don't exactly like al dente). A trick I learned from somewhere(food network ahem...) is to have 2 teaspoons of oil in the boiling pot of pasta to avoid it from boiling over (basic science). After checking for done-ness of pasta, drain it, rinse under cold water and coat it with a teaspoon of olive oil and mix it well so that the pasta doesn't stick together.

Steam/boil the veggies together. Do not cook completely. You will like them a little crunchy. keep the stock for a soup or a gravy. If you intend to use it as a stock, boil the veggies with a few peppercorns, cinnamon and a star anise. Remove them afterward. It gives them a fantastic aroma and the gravy or the soup from the stock will be delightful.

For the sauce:
Heat a pan and add about 2-3 tsp of oil. Do not add butter now. If you're adding chicken, the butter will make it tough and rubbery. Add the chicken and keep tossing it till you see that the chicken is about to be cooked. Do not wait for it to cook thoroughly, otherwise on addition of veggies and cooking further, the meat will toughen up and become thready. Add the chuck of butter now. Add the bell peppers and musrooms. Let them cook a little. Then add garlic and chillies. Toss them in the pan till you smell the aroma. Do not wait till the garlic turns brown. That is the reason we did not add garlic before the chicken. Then add the steamed veggies and the basil. Be generous with the basil. Toss the veggies in the pan a little till they lose their steamed look and get a glaze. Add the salt, pepper to taste. Toss the pasta in with some(1 tbsp) water. This water will stop the cooking process and help bind the veggies and flavors to the pasta. Turn the stove off and add the parsley and half the Parmesan. Transfer the whole thing to a bowl or a plate. Finish with a splash of extra virgin olive oil, few chili flakes, crushed pine nuts and a generous dusting of freshly grated Parmesan.

Enjoy!
My mouth is already watering.
If you happen to try out, please post a picture and let me know how it turned out.

Cheers!