Name: Vegetable Pasta - One Pot!
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 garlic cloves (, minced); 1 onion (, finely chopped); 2 zucchinis* (, halved lengthwise and cut into sliced 0.8cm / 1/3" slices); 1 red capsicum/bell pepper* (, halved and sliced); 1 cup corn* ((frozen or canned)); 1 broccoli* (, broken into bite size florets); 250g/ 0.5lb ziti/penne (, or other short pasta (Note 1)); 800 g / 28 oz crushed tomato; 1.5 cups / 375 ml vegetable or chicken broth; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 1 tbsp Italian herb mix ((or other dried herbs)); 1 tsp garlic powder; 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes ((chilli flakes, adjust spiciness to taste)); 1.5 tsp salt; 0.5 tsp black pepper; 1.5 cups shredded cheese of choice ((Cheddar, tasty, Monterey Jack etc)); Finely chopped parsley ((optional)); Parmesan ((if not using cheese))

A quick Vegetable Pasta that’s made with less pasta and more veggies that tastes so amazing, no one realises it’s a healthy pasta recipe!!! It’s a vegetarian pasta loaded with a whole head of broccoli, corn, zucchinis, capsicum/peppers and onion, and smothered in a garlic herb tomato sauce.

All made in one pot – from scratch, in 20 minutes. *Fist pump!*

Vegetable Pasta

There’s a time for making vegetable pasta the proper way – roasting veggies until beautifully caramelised, making a pasta sauce, cooking the pasta, then bringing it all together at the end. It’ll take close to an hour, and it’s totally fabulous.

This one pot vegetarian pasta is for all those other times.

A complete meal that covers all bases:

tons of veggies;
light on the pasta;
minimal prep;
just one pot to clean; and
absolutely delish. (The cheese helps… 😉)

Choose your own vegetables and pasta

This is a terrific versatile vegetarian pasta that you can make your own using your vegetables of choice. I’ve used a whole head of broccoli, the icy remains of frozen corn, 2 zucchinis nearing the end of their life and a capsicum/bell pepper. All vegetables I happened to have (albeit I then had to go out and buy them again to make the video 😂)

You can also choose your own pasta. This recipe will work with any short pasta – macaroni, spirals, penne, ziti (which is what I’ve used).

Jeez, I’m being flexible today, aren’t I! I figure after all the rules I set out in Friday’s Chocolate Mousse, I was due for a nice and easy “use what you want” recipe today. 😂

Though having said that, while this vegetable pasta is adaptable to whatever vegetables and short pasta you want, the liquid quantities and cook times are not as flexible so please do follow the recipe.

A 20 Minute Quick Healthy Dinner

This recipe has a nice flow to it. I start off by chopping the garlic and onion, then get that on the stove to cook slowly on a low heat so it becomes sweet and becomes an amazing flavour base for this quick healthy dinner.

In between leisurely stirring the onion every now and then, I chop the other vegetables, pop open cans and measure out the herbs and spices so it’s all ready to go into the pot by the time the onion is done.

Once the pasta is in, it takes a mere 10 minutes to finish cooking. Much longer than this and you’ll end up with soggy pasta, so basically, this has to be a quick 20 minutes recipe otherwise your pasta is overcooked! 😂

I know I’m talking up how this is a healthy Vegetable Pasta recipe but when you watch the video, you’re going to see me toss in a nice handful of cheese that’s stirred through the pasta, then a bit more to melt on top.

There’s no denying cheese makes this even tastier, but for a healthier option, opt for some parmesan instead.

Excluding the cheese, this pasta is a mere 378 calories per serving – and it’s a generous serving size, this recipe makes a big pot full!

Either way, you’re going to be yscoffing this down. Added bonus: it’s great Couch Food. (Definition: food you can eat on the couch without taking your eyes off the TV 🙌🏻) – Nagi x