Penne Pasta with Marinara

This is my daughter's favorite food. Even though I like to add some sautéed vegetables in my pasta, the one you can see on the side her style 😃 with no vegetables.

Here I have used Penne pasta but we can use Spaghetti, Fusilli and Farfalle pastas too with the same sauce.

Ingredients :

• 2 cups penne pasta

• 1 & 1/2 cup marinara sauce

• Salt to taste

• Extra virgin olive oil (even sunflower oil will work if you can't get olive oil. Don't add oil which has some flavor like mustard, coconut. etc.)

• 1/2 onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1/2 green capsicum, cut to small cubes

• 1/2 red bell peppers, cut to small cubes

• Basil leaves, freshly chopped

• Red chili flakes (optional)

• Pepper, freshly ground (optional)

Method :

• Make the pasta sauce.

• Boil the pasta with water and salt. It will take around 7 minutes for the pasta to cook. Generally it is said to be cooked till "al dente" which just means cooked but firm (not soft) while eating but here at home what we like is a little more than that.

• Take one out and press to check if done. Stop cooking and strain the pasta. Wash them will regular cooking/drinking to stop cooking. Coat the pasta with oil to avoid sticking.

• In a pan heat olive oil. Add the chopped onions and sauté till translucent. Add both green and red bell peppers.

• Add salt and sauté the vegetable. Let them to cook for 2 mins and add the sauce we prepared earlier and cook for 1 minute.

• Add the cooked pasta and freshly chopped basil. Mix them all together once. The pasta is ready to serve. If you like pasta well soaked in the sauce, like my daughter, then cover and cook it for 1 minute and then serve.

• Add the optional condiments as per your taste.

For my butter loving daughter I add a small spoon of Amul butter on the steaming hot pasta.