Pasta Paradise

We've been hiding indoors this week to escape the stormy weather and decided to share with you one of our favourite rainy day recipes. Whether you've had a busy day at work, feel exhausted from the gym or you just can't be bothered cooking up a storm in the kitchen, a quick and easy pasta dish is always a winner.

There are no hard and fast rules with this dish - it's slightly different every time we make it, depending on what we have in the fridge and how hungry we're feeling. Feel free to play around with the quantities and ingredients... the more the merrier!

Ingredients

- 200g whole wheat pasta

- 1 red pepper, chopped

- 4 peppadew peppers, chopped

- 1 red onion, chopped

- 1 courgette, chopped

- 2 pork sausages, chopped (or use chicken, beef or bacon instead)

- 1 clove garlic, chopped

- 1 tin chopped tomatoes

- 2 tomatoes, chopped (if you wish to add them to the sauce)

- handful of frozen garden peas

(serves two, with lunch leftovers for the next day!)

Directions

1. To begin, choose the ingredients for your sauce - pepper, onion and courgette is my favourite combination but you might like to include other vegetables like mushrooms, aubergines or sweetcorn. Add your ingredients to a frying pan with a splash of oil and cook on a medium/low heat for five minutes.

2. Meanwhile, boil the kettle and add water (with a pinch of salt) to a saucepan for your pasta. (You need approximately 75g of pasta per person, so if you're altering the sauce recipe remember to make more pasta.) Cook the pasta for 12 minutes, though if you're using fresh pasta do not cook it until just before you are ready to serve, as it only takes a couple of minutes.

3. Once your pasta's on the boil and your vegetables are beginning to soften, add the tin of tomatoes and garlic to your sauce. Keep on a medium heat but make sure the sauce does not reduce too much. Add a splash of water if it does. You might also like to add chopped tomatoes to the sauce at this stage. (If you're having garlic bread, preheat the oven now!)

4. Stir your sauce regularly. When your pasta has just four minutes to go, add some garden peas. If you're going to serve garlic bread with your pasta, put it in the oven now. (If you're cooking the garlic bread from frozen, it'll take a bit longer so put it in the oven when the pasta goes on, but keep an eye on it!)

5. Drain your pasta and stir in the sauce before serving. Season to taste, adding chilli flakes and parmesan. Serve with garlic bread or tomato flatbreads. Enjoy!