Heavenly Basil Pasta
Ingredients
12 oz dry angle hair pasta
2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 tbsp minced shallots
6 each chopped tomatoes
2 each medium to large portabello mushrooms chopped
1 each large yellow bell pepper
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil
2 qts water
2 tbsp low-fat parmesan cheese or romano cheese
non-fat cooking spray
salt and pepper to taste
Method
1. In a large stock pot add water and 1 tbsp salt and bring to a boil.
2. Once water comes to a boil, add pasta and stir to keep pasta from sticking together. Cook pasta until it is al dente (Pasta should retain a slight resistance when biting into it, but should not have a hard center – about 6 to 8 minutes for dried angel hair pasta).
3. Drain the pasta (do not rinse – rinsing will remove the starch and the sauce will not adhere to the pasta). Place in bowl and cover with plastic wrap to keep it warm.
4. Spray a medium sized skillet with non-fat spray and heat over medium high heat. Sauté garlic and shallots just until they start turn translucent and you can smell the garlic. Add tomatoes, portabellas, yellow bell pepper, salt and pepper and let simmer 15 minutes.
5. Add chopped basil to sauce and mix well. Let simmer another 2 minutes.
6. Place pasta servings on plate or in a bowl. Spoon sauce over pasta and top with ½ tablespoon of parmesan and serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings – 1 cup per person
Nutritional Information:
Calories 256
Fat 2 g
Protein 17 g