Quick pasta dish with leek, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and garlic Ⓥ

So one night I got home late & was hungry but hadn’t done groceries that day. Luckily I still had some fresh vegetables in my fridge and made up this quick dish. It’s great warm for dinner, but equally yummy as a (cold) lunch.

Ingredients (4P)

• Pasta (for 4 people), I used 300g whole wheat penne.
• 1 leek (medium)
• 10 mushrooms (medium)
• 10-15 cherry tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove (or 1 tsp asafetida powder)
• Handful of fresh basil leaves
• Good quality olive oil
• Salt & black pepper

Preparation

1. Boil water for pasta.
2. Wash and cut the vegetables (leek: sliced; tomatoes: halves; mushrooms: quarts).
3. Slice and dice the garlic clove.
4. Heat olive oil in a skillet or wok and add leek, fry for 2 minutes, add mushrooms, fry until golden. Add garlic, stir for about 2 minutes. Add cherry tomatoes and let simmer.
5. Add pasta to boiling water and cook according to instructions on packaging.
6. Before draining the cooking water of the pasta, take out a small amount in a cup and set aside.
7. Drain the pasta & splash with cold water.
8. Add the pasta to the vegetables, add olive oil, salt, pepper & fresh basil and stir well.
9. Add a bit of the cooking liquid if the mixture is too dry.
10. Serve with a side salad (in picture: lettuce, tomato, nutritional yeast, roasted pumpkin & sunflower seeds with ume su vinegar) with a mustard dressing.

TIP: You can also add fresh spinach or endives or whatever you have in your fridge at that moment and you feel like adding. The tomatoes and cooking liquid give you a simply but deliciously light sauce.

Om shanti -ॐ शान्ति