Vegetable Shell Pasta in Tomato Sauce Recipe, Easy Pasta Shells Recipe

May 27, 2015

Pasta is our all time favorite recipe and you can make any variety of pasta for the dish – I like small shell pasta as it seems to have a very nice crunchy texture and also has more surface area to absorb the flavors of the sauce. It turned out to be such a wholesome, hearty and finger-licking-delicious dish and takes under 30 minutes to prepare.

Shell Pasta with Vegetable in Tomato Sauce satisfies the craving for a sweet-spicy Italian style flavored pasta. This is an easy, delicious, and satisfying vegetarian pasta recipe. Pasta is my all time favourite for breakfast. It easy to whip up and filling for the morning & evening dose. Though I have tried different types of pastas. I am always trying new cuisines in my kitchen, I had tried to make this pasta recipe in "Italian cuisine” style. Me and my hubby loves all pasta savoury recipes

The ingredients were all familiar from the popular Italian dishes and I though it was good enough a substitute for me to get started with try to some Italian recipe. This turned out to be an awesome. Every time a recipe calls for basil or oregano or chili flakes, I just use some of this seasoning.

If you are looking for similar recipes then do check veg macaroni-pasta in tomato sauce , pasta tomato sauce and homemade vegetable pizza recipe from scratch.

An easy recipe of shell pasta with veggies in tomato sauce. Let's start to make this easy and quick recipe with simple step-by-step process.

Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 4 – 6

Ingredients:

Shell Pasta (I used the small ones) – 2 cups
Finely chopped onions - 1 no
Garlic – 4 pods, minced
Cumin seeds / jeera - 1/2 tbsp
Tomatoes – 3 large, chopped
Capsicum, diced into bite size pieces – 1/2 cups (Any choice of vegetables)
Corns - 1/2 cup
Tomato puree - 1/2 cup
Tomato sauce - 3 to 4 tbsp
Italian seasoning – 1/2 tbsp or to taste
Pepper – 1/2 tsp
Cheese – 2 tbsp (any variety of your choice, I used Mozzarella),shredded
Butter – 3 tbsp
Salt to taste
Oil – 2 tbsp

Preparation Method:

Cooking the pasta:

It’s the same method for any pasta.

1. Heat water in a cooking pot and bring to a boil. Add salt & oil to season the pasta.

2. Add the pasta and let it cook it for 8-10 minutes (you can check it if you suspect it is done by taking one out with a fork – the pasta shells should be soft enough to pinch and cut open but not mushy or mash-able).

3. Turn off the heat & drain pasta well in a bowl. Place the drained pasta in the running cold water to stop the cooking process. You could add a few drops of oil and toss-up the pasta if you feel it might stick together.

Making the vegetables and tomato sauce :

1. While the pasta is cooking you can start working on the sauce.

2. Heat some butter in a heavy bottomed pan. On medium heat, add the jeera (I used cumin seeds to touch the Indian taste in Italian pasta, its optional) garlic and saute for 30 seconds until cooked, Once garlic will infuse its flavor then add the chopped onions & saute till translucent pink.

3. Add the vegetables, cook for 4-5 minutes on medium heat till crunchy. I used capsicum.

4. Add the corns, tomatoes, salt, chilli flakes, pepper & oregano. Mix well & cook covered for 5 mins. Tomatoes will turn slightly soft.

5. Add the tomatoes puree, Cover it with lid & cook it on for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The liquid in the sauce would reduce down over time.
Add the tomato sauce, check and add more salt if needed. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables are done but have a little bit crunch left in them and the liquid in the sauce has reduced to desired consistency.

Bringing it all together:

1. Add the cooked pasta shells, and mix it into the sauce, cooking for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat.

2. Ladle the saucy pasta into serving dishes or bowls and add the shredded mozzarella cheese on top (about 1-2 tbsp per serving or to taste) for garnishing.