Spicy Garlic Pasta with Veggies
This week was crazy for me. I had meetings running up to lunch or through lunch. Plus, I had jam-packed evenings with workouts, more work, or even planning time to relax. I always need some staples on hand to be able to through together a meal.
This week and most weeks, I have broccoli, mushrooms, tomatoes, along with some sort of pasta. I prefer to have a packet of one of the fresh pastas or raviolis from Trader Joe’s. Add your seasonings and olive oil, and you have a delicious meal. Plus, if you have frozen garlic stocked in your freezer, you know you can always amp up the flavor and receive some additional nutritional benefits.
Garlic benefits:
helps fights off a cold and/or flu
supports a healthy digestive system
lowers your blood pressure
warms your body, especially during winter months
To make this recipe, start by prepping your vegetables. Wash and dry them to start, then chop your broccoli and tomato and slice your mushrooms. You do not need to worry about seasoning, as that comes during the cooking process.
While prepping your vegetables, get a pot of water over heat to start boiling and begin heating olive oil in a pan over medium heat. I always recommend heating the oil before adding any food to the pan. This prevents your vegetables from cooking unevenly.
After a few minutes of sautéing your vegetables, you can add in the garlic and other seasonings, along with a little bit of olive oil. This is how you are able to create a quick and flavorful sauce for your vegetables and pasta.
This is also when you can add your pasta to the boiling water. I used fresh ravioli, so the cooking process only takes about three minutes.
Lastly, combine the ravioli with the cooked vegetables and enjoy! You can add grated cheese, fresh parsley, or a little extra crushed red pepper to make it your own.
See below for full list of ingredients and how to make this spicy, garlic ravioli.
Ingredients
1 package of ravioli (I love any from Trader Joe’s)
1 Tbsp olive oil + extra
1 head broccoli, chopped
1 container white mushrooms, sliced
1 Roma tomato, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp Italian season
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Optional: cheese and fresh parsley
Directions
Heat pot of water to a boil.
While water is getting to a boil, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add vegetables and sauté for 4-5 minutes.
Add ravioli to water. Most fresh packaged raviolis cook in about 3 minutes.
While pasta is cooking, add garlic and seasoning to pan with a little bit of extra olive oil.
Lastly, toss cook pasta with vegetables and spicy garlic seasoning. Optional to serve with fresh cheese and parsley.
TNK Tips
Fresh pasta stored in fridge cooks quicker, making for a great lunch while working at home.
Make the whole batch of pasta and store in your fridge to quickly reheat. Once heated, toss with fresh olive oil.
Substitute vegetables based on what you have on hand. It’s a great way to use up vegetables at the end of the week prior to them going bad.
Always keep frozen garlic on hand in order to add flavor to any meal.
