“…P is for Pasta…” – Peppers, Parmesan and Parsley Pene Pasta

I LOVE making pasta dishes! It is easy, quick, satisfying and you can personalize it anyway you like… This is probably why we have “pasta night” at least once a week.

When my daughters were in preschool and were introduced to the ABCs, they use to come home each day with a new letter and a little song …”A is for Apple, B is for Banana…”

It was always around dinner time when we were singing the “letter of the day” song and as we were thinking about food, we always came up with food items for each letter…Some letters were better than others, but regardless our lists of food items were quite long and impressive… When P was the “letter of the day” we were thrilled! Our list of food items was endless and it was Pasta night; so, we decided to get the most out of it…

This is how “P is for Pasta” dish was born.

You will need:

13.25 OZ (375 gr.) Whole Wheat/Grain Penne Pasta

½ Medium Onion

3 cloves of Garlic

½ Yellow Bell Pepper

½ Orange Bell Pepper

½ cup (packed) Fresh Parsley

1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan Cheese)

3 tbsp. Olive Oil

½ tsp. Turmeric

½ tsp. Black Pepper

½ tsp. Salt

½ – 1 cup of Pasta Water

Let’s get to work!

Whenever making a pasta dish you want to time the pasta cooking with the sauce cooking, so the cooked pasta can join the sauce just in the right time. Start by boiling water in a large pot with good amount of salt (at least a tablespoon and a half) and cook the pasta according to the box instructions. For a whole grain Pene pasta it usually takes a little under 10 minutes, so I start the sauce as soon as I drop the pasta in the boiling water. (While the water is boiling I usually do all the vegetable prep and slicing)

For this dish I like to thinly slice all the vegetables into about 1.5’’ in length – the length of the Pene.

Slice the onion thinly.

Slice the peppers. Slice thinly one time and then half the slices.

Thinly slice the garlic.

Start sautéing the onions in olive oil over medium heat. It takes about three minutes for the onions start changing their color.

Add the peppers and garlic. Mix them well and continue sautéing for couple more minutes.

Add the spices and salt and mix well.

When the pasta is cooked reserve one cup of pasta water.

Add the cooked pasta to the sautéing vegetables.

Mix everything well and lower the heat to lowest flame.

Ahhhh Parmigiano Reggiano – this one has an awesome cheesy aroma!

Grate the Parmigiano Reggiano.

Add the Parmesan cheese to the pasta.

Mix and allow it the melt over the low heat.

At this point add about half a cup of the pasta water – this will bring all the ingredients together and will create a sauce for our pasta.

Chop the fresh parsley.

Turn the heat off and add the chopped parsley. Mix well.

It’s ready!

Extra grated Parmesan and chopped parsley on top are more than welcome. 🙂

Come and get it while it’s hot…

This one goes to my 3 years old boy…his Mother’s Day card inspired me to get in the kitchen and make him one of his favorite 🙂

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Quick Recipe:

Peppers, Parsley, Parmesan Pasta-

Slice thinly Onion, Peppers and Garlic (1.5’’ in length).

Sauté them in Olive Oil over medium heat.

Add Turmeric, Black Pepper and Salt and mix well.

Add cooked Pasta and mix together.

Add grated Parmesan Cheese and some pasta water, mix well to create a sauce – cook on low heat for one minute.

Turn the heat off and add chopped fresh Parsley.

Mix to combine.

Served topped with a little more grated Parmesan.