Meal in One - Pasta

Easy, Flexible Recipe

It has been raining intermittently all week. My last trip to the market was not pleasant and I'm not going again till the weather clears. For today's lunch, I decided to use whatever was available in the kitchen.

Meal-in-One Pasta: Sampler

Ingredients
1 cup pasta
1 tsp garlic ( chopped, crushed - whatever)
1 onion
1 tomato
1 carrot
1 capsicum
1 cup pre-cooked mince (actually, frozen leftover)
1 handful spring onions
1 tbs mint leaves
tomato.paste or puree, oil, butter,
red chilly powder, pepper, salt, water
(readily found in most kitchens, including mine)

Method

1. Put the pasta  in 4 cups boiling water & cook al dente. Drain out & discard the water. Mix  1 tsp oil in the pasta and set aside.
2. Chop the onion, tomato, carrot and capsicum.
3. Heat oil in a pan, put in the garlic, quickly followed by the onion. 
4. Add vegetables stirring in tomato paste and water to keep it moist.
5. When almost cooked, put in the mince and mix well. Add chilly, pepper,salt and butter to taste. 
6. Throw in the chopped mint leaves and spring onions. Give it a good stir & cover the dish.
7. Dig in and enjoy your hot Meal-in-One Pasta.

Tips

• This is a flexible recipe. If you don't have one ingredient, substitute another.
• Types of Pasta  are many. I used macaroni, because that's what I had. Try elbows or shells for a change.
• No mint leaves? No problem. Use fresh basil or oregano. At a pinch, maake do with dried herbs. 
• I prefer mutton mince. Lamb, beef or chicken are substitutes. Vegetarians may simply omit the mince and add a cup of vegetable stock. 
• Don't wait for step-1 to get done before starting step-2. Multitask!  You don't want to spend all day cooking, do you?
• This dish serves two. If you are very hungry, imagine that you have twin stomachs and eat the whole lot!
• Did you notice that all the ingredients are measured in ones? I find this easy to handle. To cook for  3 persons, use 3 of everything.

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