Red sauce pasta | How to make red sauce pasta

Red sauce pasta recipe – Healthy & delicious kids’ friendly pasta that can be made for after school or dinner. Red sauce pasta is a dish made with pasta, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, garlic & herbs. This is one of the best pasta recipes you can make at home & I am sure your family will love it.

Red sauce pasta can be served for a meal with
pizza
tomato soup
Cheese toast
sandwiches

This is an easy idea to include tomatoes and red bell pepper in kids’ diet. Red sauce pasta recipe is generally made using only tomatoes. Mostly canned tomatoes or tomato paste/ puree is used to get the bright color.

Making this red sauce pasta recipe entirely using only tomatoes will make it very tangy. So you can use either onions or bell peppers to balance the tang from tomatoes.

If you are looking for ideas to include bell pepper in your diet, then surely this is a must try. On occasions I also make this with chicken and shrimps. It tastes great that way too. I have mentioned the details in the notes below.

The unique taste and flavor comes from roasting the tomatoes & bell pepper before blending. They can be oven roasted or sauteed in the pan just like the way I have done in this post.

Do not skip this step as it makes red sauce pasta more flavorful and delicious.

More Pasta recipes,
Masala pasta
White sauce pasta
Pasta payasam
Pasta soup
Chicken pasta.

Red sauce pasta recipe

Red sauce pasta recipe | How to make red sauce pasta

Delicious red sauce pasta made with tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs & spices.

Prep Time5 minutes

Cook Time25 minutes

Total Time30 minutes

Servings2 to 3

AuthorSwasthi

Ingredients (1 cup = 240ml )

• 1 ½ cups pasta (any)
• 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil (or any)
• salt as needed
• 3 to 4 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp onions finely chopped
• 1 ½ cups tomatoes ripe red chopped
• 1 ¼ cup red bell peppers or red capsicum or ½ to ¾ cup onions
• ½ to 1 tsp red chili flakes (adjust as needed)
• ½ to 1 tsp oregano or mixed herbs
• pepper freshly crushed for garnish

How to make the recipe

Preparation for red sauce pasta

• Roast onions or bell peppers in 1 tbsp oil for 3 mins on a high flame. Transfer to a plate to cool.
• Roast tomatoes until mushy for about 3 mins. Cool this as well.
• Blend them together to a puree. Set aside.
• In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Cook pasta with salt until al dente (just cooked).
• Drain off and rinse them. Drain in a colander. Set aside.

How to make red sauce pasta

• Heat the same pan with more oil and fry garlic and chili flakes until aromatic.
• Add onions and saute until golden.
• Pour the puree and add salt. 
• Mix well and cook until it reaches a desired consistency. Make sure the sauce is not watery. Taste the sauce and adjust salt as needed. Add oregano.
• Off the stove and add the pasta. Toss well until mixed.
• Garnish with herbs. Serve hot pasta in red sauce.

NUTRITION

Calories: 388kcal | Carbohydrates: 54g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 250mg | Potassium: 816mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 3445IU | Vitamin C: 137mg | Calcium: 82mg | Iron: 3.4mg

Notes

1. If using prawns: You can add about 125 to 150 grams of fresh cleaned tiger prawns after sauteing garlic, onions. Saute until they get cooked. They swirl completely when done. Set them aside without removing onions or garlic. Add them back to the pan along with cooked pasta.
2. If using chicken: Cook 150 grams of boneless chicken separately until tender, shred and then add it after sauteing garlic, onions.

Preparation

The red sauce I have made for this pasta recipe uses red bell pepper along with tomatoes. But can be substituted with onions.

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute bell peppers or onions on a high flame just for 2 mins. You can also skip bell peppers and use onion. The taste would be different but good. Set them aside to cool.

2. To the same pan, add ripe tomatoes and saute for 2 to 3 mins.

3. Tomatoes must turn soft. Add red chili flakes as needed. Set this aside to cool.

4. When cooled, add them to a blender jar.

5. Blend to a smooth or coarse paste. We prefer smooth. Set this aside.

6. While you make the sauce, you can bring 2 liters water to a boil in a large pot. Add salt as needed.

7. When the water comes to a boil, add pasta. Cook al dente following the instructions on the pack.

8. Drain off in a colander and rinse to remove extra starch.

How to make red sauce pasta recipe

9. Put back the same pan on the stove with another 1 tbsp oil. When hot saute garlic and red chili flakes until they turn fragrant.

10. Add chopped onions.

11. Saute until the raw smell goes away.

12. Add the puree and salt. Mix and cook on a medium heat until the sauce thickens.

13. This is the consistency i prefer, you can even take off a little earlier. Add oregano. Mix well. Off the stove.

14. Add the cooked pasta. I prefer another tbsp olive oil now. This is optional.

15. Saute until well combined.

Add crushed pepper. Serve pasta in red sauce hot.