Kitchen Experiments : Simple and Tasty Pasta

This is one of the first dishes I conjured up, under the tutelage of the lovely Mrs. B. N. I was introduced to the delights of Italian cuisine by this dish - an incredibly quick and easy pasta.

Ingredients:
2 medium tomatoes (nice and ripe)
1 medium onion
1 medium capsicum
2-3 cloves garlic/1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
3/4 teaspoon red chilli powder/paprika
1-2 tablespoons tomato puree/ketchup (for cheating)
1 tablespoon olive oil
sugar, salt, freshly ground pepper and dried oregano - to taste
1 cube processed cheese/2 tablespoons grated cheese (parmesan or whichever you like)
4 handfuls of pasta (whichever shape you like)

Method:
For the sauce:
Roast the capscum (whole) on the stove (on a naked flame) turning it over to char it uniformly.


While the capsicum's getting blistered on the stove, finely chop the tomatoes and onion and roughly crush the garlic cloves


Remove the capsicum, peel off the more burnt black parts of the skin (they'll slip off easily).

You neednt get rid of every smidgen of black, some charred skin is necessary for the smoky flavour it imaparts.
Finely chop the capsicum as well.
Heat the olive oil in a pan, then add the onion and garlic. Saute till lightly golden.
Add the chilli powder/paprika and stir ofr another 30 seconds.
Add the chopped tomatoes and cook on high heat till the tomato juice starts bubbling away rapidly (about 5 minutes)Add the chopped capsicum. Stir.


Now comes cheating time - add the tomato puree or ketchup (I personally prefer ketchup). This gives the sauce a rich red colour and a smooth sauce-like texture - essential if you dont plan to blend the sauce in the blender as the last step.
Next throw in the seasonings - sugar, salt, pepper and oregano. You can lightly crush the dried oregano leaves before adding them to the pan, to release the flavour better.
Add half the grated cheese. Mix and check for taste.
The last step is optional - you can choose to blend the chunky-looking sauce in the blender for a smooooooth sauce (in which case there is no need to chop the tomatoes and onion too finely) or leave it chunky. I prefer to leve it slightly nubble and chunky in texture.


Assembly:

Bring a large saucepan of water to a rolling boil, add 1 tsp oil and 1 tsp salt.
Throw in the pasta and let it cook till it is slightly less cooked than the 'al dente' stage (al dente - cooked but slightly chewy, i.e. not mushily soft)

Drain the pasta and add to the sauce and simmer for 5 mins over low heat till the pasta is al dente and has absorbed the flavour and taste of the sauce. Adjust the seasoning

Garnich with the remaining cheese and peppr-and-oregano.

Serve piping hot (with salad and/or garlic bread, if you wish)and enjoy!