Not-Quite-Sure Pasta

I subscribe to a couple of cooking magazines and this is a recipe that I tried from the most recent issue.

Here are your ingredients:
1 cup uncooked pasta
1 pkg (16oz) frozen veggies
1 T cornstarch
3/4 cup chicken broth
pinch of crushed red pepper
olive oil
3 T butter
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 can (4oz) mushrooms
1 small tomato, chopped
Green onions, chopped
Parmesan cheese, sprinkled

Get out your favorite pot and start boiling some water. Add a couple pinches of salt to flavor your pasta. I use only whole wheat or whole grain pasta now, Barilla is a good one!


Measure out your pasta and if a few happen to jump into the water of their own volition, so be it! Oh, I should mention, I doubled this recipe from the above list...


While your noodles are boiling, get your chicken broth ready. If you have the ready made kind, GREAT! I did not, so I was forced to use chicken blocks. Measure out the water and then pop the whole thing in the microwave to heat up. The heat softens the blocks and !presto! you have broth.


Bust out a good skillet and drizzle some olive oil in the pan.


Add a pinch of crushed red pepper to flavor the oil...this is amazing and was not in the original recipe!


Lest you think that I have a spotless kitchen and everything works out great. Check carefully under the handle of my pot. That would be smoke, copious amounts of smoke! The hubby was playing with the kids in the other end of the house and yelled "What's burning?" Ahhhh, keeping it real in the runway kitchen!


Here is our finished broth.


Add the corn starch to the broth. (I should confess that as soon as I snapped this picture the spoon tipped out of the container and the whole mess fell into the broth.)


Grab your flat whisk. What? You don't have a flat whisk? Oh my, run, don't walk, and get yourself a flat whisk. It is my FAVORITE kitchen tool, hands down. I'm not sure I made edible gravy without it.


Before whisking...


After a brisk whisk...


Now that your olive oil is hot and the pepper has flavored the oil, add your frozen (by all means fresh, if you have them) veggies.


The ingredients of our sauce. By now the pasta should be done. Drain it into a colander in the sink and use the pot for your sauce.


Melt the butter. Then add the mustard (I used one with horseradish in it, yum!), basil, parsley, and garlic.


Using your beloved wire whisk, give them a good brisk whisk.


Add your cornstarch/broth mixture slowly while continuing to whisk.


Check on your veggies, they should be cooking away at a pretty good clip.


The sauce will be thickening. Bring to a boil and stir for 2 minutes until it is thick enough to leave a little space when you scrape the bottom of the pan with your whisk.


At this point, add your drained noodles back into the sauce (former boiling) pan. Stir gently to coat the noodles with this beautiful sauce!


Now add your vegetables, they should have a little "char" on them which is just olive oily and red peppery goodness! Stir gently again.


Here is my daughter waiting patiently for this supper to be ready.


Grab your tomatoes and give them a chop. Again, gently stir to incorporate the tomatoes.


Add a few green onions and Parmesan cheese to the top.


This was supper: Not-Quite-Sure Pasta, slow cooked roast and pickled beets.


I call this recipe "Not-Quite-Sure" Pasta because the fresh from the stove taste was excellent. We all loved it. But the hubby reheated some leftovers and he wasn't impressed with it the second time around. So I'm not quite sure, I'll have to try it again. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!