So, your friends are coming over on Independence Day and you want to make something special that's themed around this day. Make this easy-to-follow colourful pasta recipe that's delicious and can be conjured up in minutes. This is a cold pasta salad that can be made in advance, and a crowd pleaser too. Make this bright, flavour-packed pasta for your friends and family to nosh on this Independence Day.
Ingredients:
• 2 boxes of tricolour spiral pasta
• 1/2 cup of salted butter
• 1 large broccoli head, cut into florets
• 2/3 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut into small chunks
• 4 red capsicums
• 8-10 red cherry tomatoes
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tbsp oregano
• 1 1/2 tbsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 4 tbsp salt
• 1 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
Method:
• In a stock pot add enough water to submerge 2 packets of spiral pasta, and put it on high flame.
• Add salt to the water.
• Add the carrots to the salted water and parboil them for 3 minutes.
• Remove the carrot chunks with a spyder and add the broccoli florets.
• Parboil them for a minute and set aside.
• Now add the 2 packets of tricolour pasta and cook them as per the instructions provided on the back of the box.
• Once the pasta is cooked, get a glass of salted pasta water for future use, if required. Discard the rest of the cooking water.
• Toss the red capsicum and cherry tomatoes in an oven with a drizzle of olive oil. Set the temperature at 200 degrees Celsius.
• Once the cherry tomatoes have taken on a light char, remove them from the oven. The peppers would need a little longer in the oven still.
• After 20 minutes, when the red capsicum has taken on a light char on the surface, remove it from the oven.
• Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and deseed the red capsicums and cut them into pieces.
• In a fry pan add the butter and put it on medium flame.
• Toss the parboiled carrots and broccoli and raw green onions in the pan. Do not overcook them, just enough to incorporate the butter with the vegetables.
• In a large mixing bowl, add the tricolour pasta, the roasted and cooked vegetables, the cheese and the garlic, oregano and black pepper and mix them all together.
• If the pasta sauce looks thin, add more shredded cheese and if it looks thicker, add the salted pasta water and adjust accordingly.
And there you have it! This colourful, cheesy, vegetarian tricolour pasta is ready to be consumed. Relish it with your friends and family this Independence Day and make a note to brag about your cooking skills while you're at it!