Zucchini Tomato Pasta Recipe | Easy Vegetarian and Vegan Recipes | Italian Tomato Pasta

Other Ingredients:
3 Tablespoon Olive Oil
130g / 1+1/4 cup approx. Onion - Thinly Sliced
3 to 4 garlic cloves / 1 Tablespoon approx. Garlic - finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 Teaspoon Chili Flakes or to taste
2+1/2 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
(If you like your pasta more zesty, slightly increase the quantity of the tomato paste)
350g / 3 Cups approx. Zucchini - Cut in 1/2 inch semi circle pieces
3/4 Cup Pasta Cooking Water OR AS REQUIRED
200g / 1+1/4 Cup approx. Cherry or Grape Tomatoes
Salt to taste (I have added total 1/4 +1/2 Teaspoon of pink himalayan salt)
Drizzle of Olive Oil (I added 1 tablespoon of organic cold pressed Olive Oil)
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper or to taste
12g / 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil or to taste
▶️ METHOD:
Start by chopping the vegetables and set aside. Generously salt a pot of boiling water and add the penne pasta. Cook the pasta until it's Al dente (as per the package instructions).
✅ 👉 DO NOT OVER COOK THE PASTA, cook it al dente because we will be further cooking it in the tomato sauce later, so just cook it al dente.
To a heated pan, add olive oil, onion and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cook the onion on medium to medium-high heat (depending on the heat of your stove) until it's soft and translucent. It will take about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not brown the onions.
Now reduce the heat to low and add garlic and chili flakes. Cook on low to medium-low heat for about 1 minute or until fragrant. Then add the tomato paste. Mix well. Now add the zucchini. Turn the heat to medium-high and fry the zucchini along with the tomato paste for about 2 minutes, to cook out the raw flavour of the tomato paste.
✅ 👉 NOTE: If you like your pasta more zesty, you can slightly increase the quantity of tomato paste
Then add the pasta cooking water to the pan to make a sauce, mix well and bring to a boil. Once it comes to a boil, add the Cherry/grape tomatoes and cook on medium-high heat for about 2 minutes or until the tomatoes start to disintegrate. Now add the cooked pasta and mix well. Add salt to taste and mix again (I have added 1/2 teaspoon of pink Himalayan salt).
✅ 👉 NOTE THAT THE PASTA COOKING WATER ALREADY HAS SALT IN IT, so add the salt accordingly.
Mix well and cook on medium heat for another 2 minutes or so. By now the tomatoes and the pasta water together would have created a nice silky sauce. If the pasta starts to get dry add some more cooking pasta water. Turn off the stove.
Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, a drizzle of good quality Extra virgin Olive Oil, and fresh basil. Mix and serve hot
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