Mediterranean Vegetable Tagliatelle

This Mediterranean Vegetable Tagliatelle is a fairly simple pasta dish, but the flavours are very rich and dense. This sauce really does go best with tagliatelle, though linguine will also do the job. I wouldn’t serve it other pasta, such as penne or fusilli as it’s the combination of the long strips of vegetables and long strips of pasta that works so well.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic, very finely diced, or crushed
• 3 sticks celery, washed
• 3 large peppers (reds and yellows, preferably), cored and washed
• 1 large courgette, topped and tailed and washed
• 100g tomato purée
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• herbs for flavouring – I use basil and tarragon, ½ tsp of each if dried or 1 handful if fresh (torn up)
• lots of water for boiling (pasta should always be cooked in loads and loads of water)
• 300g tagliatelle

Method

1. Gently heat up the oil in a wok (or sauté pan or, if you have neither of those, a medium-sized saucepan will be fine, too).
2. Meanwhile, peel and slice the red onion, into strips (top and tail; cut in half, peel, and then cut along the lines) and add to the oil, with the garlic.
3. Slice the celery into long thin strips – probably about four strips to each stick – and add to the pan. Stir.
4. Slice the peppers into long strips (top to bottom) and add to the pan. Stir.
5. Slice the courgette into long strips of a similar size to the other vegetables. Add to the pan. Stir.
6. Leave on a low heat for a couple of minutes, while you set the water boiling for the pasta.
7. Add the tomato purée and stir.
8. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir.
9. Add half the herbs and stir.
10. Leave to simmer (and reduce) on a low heat while you boil the pasta.
11. When the pasta is ready, add the rest of the herbs and stir, before you drain the pasta.
12. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and mix thoroughly.
13. Serve topped with ground up black pepper (and Parmesan, or a vegetarian alternative, if you can – e.g. you’re not vegan or dairy free).

Accompaniments

These days, I try to always serve salad with pasta and, if I’m eating it, I eat a good-sized bowl of salad before the pasta, as this reduces the GI and the effect of the wheat (wheat tends to bloat me). But a nice mixed salad will go really well, even if you’re not worrying about GI and wheat!

Adaptations

Add some pitted black olives and some aubergine to deepen the flavours even more. Some fennel will give it a bit of a different boost, too. You could also use a non-wheat tagliatelle, if you need to completely avoid wheat.