Ingredients:
- 200g (dry) pasta, eg penne or spirals
- 1-2 tbs olive oil
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, finely diced or grated
- 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
- 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped or crushed
- 1-2 fresh tomatoes OR equivalent volume sun-dried tomatoes, diced (optional)
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced thin
- 10-15 kalamata olives, quartered or finely chopped (or whole if you're feeling lazy)
- 3-4 tbs tomato paste (if not using fresh or sun-dried tomatoes)
Method:
- Boil water for pasta.
- Gently heat small amount of oil in a wok or deep-sided frying pan.
- Add onion, carrot, celery. Fry on low-medium heat.
- Put boiling water in saucepan, add dry pasta. Boil vigorously, stirring occasionally. (Pasta should take 10-13 minutes to cook, just right for frying the veges.)
- Add garlic. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Watch carefully & stir — don't allow veges to burn.
- Add tomatoes (optional), zucchini, olives. Keep stirring.
- In last couple of minutes, add fresh or dried Italian herbs (eg basil, parsely, oregano) and tomato paste. Stir in well. Turn down heat.
- When pasta is ready, drain in colander, then add to wok with veges. Turn off heat and stir in well.
- Serve with pepper if desired.
This amount serves 2-3 adults (so put in extra if you need to feed more).