Creamy Tomato Pasta - Home style

Pasta is a favorite amongst my kids. They have grown up eating plain cooked and salted pasta (various shapes and colors) since childhood as it was a nutritious alternate to Rice and could be eaten on their own without me feeding it to them.

Back in India, I found couple of stores (some are chains) that provide Pasta at premium prices, directly imported from Italy or US. In comparison to Indian snack or meal options, Pasta is quite costly (4x).  For example: Poha or Suji (Rava) is  30 Rs. per Kg, Pasta is 110-125 Rs per 0.5 kg. However, I spoil my kids sometimes by giving them Pasta dish. When ever they hear that's for dinner,  they shout a Yay! and the good part is I send left overs as lunch option as their school allows it where as Pizza is completely prohibited.

Since I started writing the blog, I have been interested in turning my meals into masterpieces (well, atleast I try) - all homemade. So, this time instead of using a Pasta sauce from outside, I decided to make my own. Also, since kids love cheese, I added cheese into the sauce and made it creamy. It was a very quick fix meal and everyone including the adult in my family loved it..

Creamy tomato Pasta
 
Ingredients
500 g Pasta (any type)
1-2 of Onion
4-5 cloves garlic
1 Kg Tomatoes
1 Tbsp - Italian herb mix
1 tsp - Black Pepper
4-5 Slices of Processed cheese
1/4 cup milk 
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin oil
1 Tbsp Red chilli flakes (optional for heat)
salt to taste

Directions

Cook pasta in hot water with salt for 10-20 min (as directed in pack) and strain it in cold water - Keep it aside. In another pan, heat oil, and garlic, onion and green pepper. Once sauteed, add chopped tomatoes, spices and salt and cook until the tomatoes are very soft. Squash them into a fine paste. Add Cheese and let it melt in the sauce to a nice cream. If the sauce is too thick, you can add milk instead of water. Let the mix get cooked well in low heat for 10 min. Add the pasta and mix it well with Creamy tomato sauce. Serve hot with Garlic bread (Bread with sprinkled garlic and toasted on flat pan with butter or in oven).

Enjoy!