MUSHROOM, KALE, BELL PEPPER PASTA FEAST

MUSHROOM, KALE, BELL PEPPER PASTA
A nutrition packed pasta in a meltingly tender sauce for veggie lovers

Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
  • Pasta (fettuccine)
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 250 gms button mushrooms, chopped
  • 200 gms curly kale, chopped roughly
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into long strips
  • 4-5 pods of garlic, chopped
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
  • ½ cup milk
  • 1 tbsp cornflour
  • A handful of parsley
  • Any Italian pasta seasoning
  • Salt and pepper
  • Parmesan cheese, for garnishing



Method
  1. Boil 250 gm (half a packet) pasta as per instructions. Before straining, ladle out 1 cup of pasta water into a bowl. 
  2. In a large pan, heat the olive oil. Once the oil is warm, add the garlic and chilli flakes and saute for a minute till you start smelling the aroma of garlic.
  3. Now add the chopped mushrooms and continue to saute on medium heat for 5 minutes.
  4. After 5 minutes, add the bell pepper and allow to cook for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Next add the chopped kale and cook for 2 minutes. You will notice that that the kale starts to wilt and quantity shrinks considerably. Add a teaspoon of salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir well.
  6. Add a tablespoon of water and cover the vegetables for 2 minutes. This will allow the kale to cook.
  7. In a separate bowl, mix 1 tablespoon cornflour with half a cup of cold milk. Mix thoroughly to ensure there are no lumps.
  8. Add this cornflour milk to the vegetables and stir in everything together. Allow the liquid in the vegetables to boil. As the milk boils, it will thicken and absorb all the juices of the vegetables and you will get the most meltingly tender sauce ever.
  9. Stick a spoon in and adjust any seasoning if required.
  10. Once the sauce has thickened a bit add the boiled fettuccine and mix everything well. If the pasta feels a little dry at this stage, you can add some of the leftover pasta liquid that you had saved. You can even throw in a little extra virgin olive oil for flavour at this stage.
  11. Add 2 teaspoons of any Italian pasta seasoning and toss and turn.
  12. Sprinkle the parsley and take the pan off the heat.
  13. Transfer onto pasta plates and garnish with Parmesan.
  14. Appreciate the vibrant colours of food on your plate. 
  15. You will not be able to stop till you polish off everything from your plate. 
Jovi's Notes
If you can't find kale, just omit it from the recipe. The dish still tastes great with just mushrooms and bell pepper. 


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