Meatless Monday, Toss it all in Pasta!

My husband in a total carnivore, he eats veggies but there always has to be meat on his plate. On the weeks that I only cook lean meats he gets moody until I finally cook him some beef, what is it with men and beef? So last week while I was putting together my grocery list I asked him what he wanted me to cook for the week. To my surprise he asked for a total vegetarian meal, now I am not vegetarian but every now and then I like to do a meatless day. He also asked me to make the most insanely easy made from scratch pasta dish.

This pasta dish in so good that it doesn't even need meat, if my husband says that then it is true. I mean look at the picture of when we went to get some BBQ, he is a carnivore.

So I found this recipe on pinterest from this wonderful blog.

What you need

• 12 ounces linguine pasta (I used Alfredo pasta and the added fiber kind, doesn't work well with whole wheat pasta)
• 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid 
• 1 medium sweet onion, cut in 1/4 inch julienne strips 
• 4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
• 4 1/2 cups vegetable broth (use regular broth and NOT low sodium)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 bunch (about 10 to 12 leaves) basil, diced
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

Place pasta, tomatoes, onion, and garlic in a large stock pot. Pour in vegetable broth. Sprinkle on top the pepper flakes and oregano. Drizzle top with oil.

Cover pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer and keep covered and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes or so. Cook until liquid is at desired amount, I cook until there is about 1 inch of liquid.

Now I added to this recipe to put my own little swing on things. I added a green bell pepper, more red pepper flakes (my husband is Mexican and likes things spicy), and I added some mushrooms. This would be really with some asparagus and spinach too, I will try that next time. I tried using whole wheat pasta once and it did not turn out well. This dish needs the starch from pasta to make the sauce so yummy, I have used the vegetable pasta and the added fiber which both work well.



I hope you all can have a very flavorful meatless Monday!

Until next time,
Olivia