This week’s recipe is probably the easiest of all my recipes put together! I must have made this atleast 20 times and I am surprised it took me so long to put it on the blog.

It is neither fancy nor filled with trendy and difficult to get ingredients. It is not particularly healthy or unhealthy but oh my goodness, I am sure you will love this simple vegetarian pasta!

Growing up I was never really fond of pasta or anything Italian, I found it too bland for my taste. But as my horizons and palate broadened with trying different cuisines, Italian food especially pasta has become a weekly staple in my diet.

Once, I started making it at home, I realized that you can customize it to suit your liking by adding as much (or little) proteins or veggies you want. It can be made healthier by using whole wheat pasta as opposed to regular pasta and you can take it up a notch  by ditching store bought puree and making your own tomato puree.

You can always add ground meat in the tomato sauce for an extra dose of protein.

This dish calls for simple 6 ingredients that I almost always have on hand and with a few extra ingredients you can make it even more flavorful, but either ways it always hits the spot.

Now that I chose to go Italian on my menu this weekend, I might as well go all the way and serve it up with a nice glass of white wine and pass into a food coma!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Served: Hot

Ingredients: 

400 gm Whole Wheat Linguine Pasta (You can use any pasta you like)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Water to boil the pasta
1 tsp Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Olive Oil (to stop cooked pasta from sticking)
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3 cups Tomato Puree
1 medium tomato chopped (optional-use if you like chunky tomato pieces in your sauce) 
1/4 cup Basil leaves
1 Bay Leaf
Coriander for garnish
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Method:

1. Boil water for the pasta  and cook it according to package instructions.
2. While that is cooking, heat a pan with oil and add cumin seeds. Once they start to sizzle add tomato puree along with chopped tomato,bay leaf and basil leaves and let it cook for 15-20 minutes on a low flame stirring in every 10 minutes.
3. Add salt and pepper to  taste along with grated Parmesan cheese as per your liking. If the sauce thickens a lot add a tablespoon of water and cook it again for 5-6 minutes on a low flame.
4. Drain the pasta and wash it under cold water so that it stops cooking. Add a tsp of Olive Oil to your cooked pasta so that it does not stick.
5. Serve the tomato basil sauce on top of  Linguine with a drizzle of Lemon juice and more Parmesan.