Cappellacci is pasta made from durum wheat flour in a shape that reminds you of a well worn sunhat. This pasta swells considerably with cooking and tastes great with a spicy tomato sauce. I love Cappellacci Pasta with tomato sauce and boiled vegetables as it is such a healthy dish and such a favourite with my son. I tend to make pasta, pasta sauce and boiled vegetables all separately to enable everyone in the family to add whatever they like to their pasta

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 3 cups Cappellacci Pasta
• 6-8 cups of blended tinned tomatoes or smooth Passata sauce
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 2-3 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 3-4 cloves of blended garlic
• 1 teaspoon of blended ginger
• 1 medium onion
• 2-3 fresh green chillies
• 3 bowls of any boiled vegetables (we chose cauliflower, baby carrots, peas and green string beans)
• 2-3 bowls of grated cheddar cheese
• Plus any condiments you like such black pepper, crushed red chillies etc…

Method:

The timing of this is important as you don’t want to overcook your pasta:

1. Take one tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan and heat it.

2. Add the salt, garlic, ginger to the tomato sauce and add it to the oil once it’s heated up.

3. Allow this tomato sauce to simmer away. Once cooked, add the oregano to it before serving. (For those of you who like hot and spicy food, you can add chilly powder or green chillies to the sauce when it is simmering.)

4. In a separate saucepan, add one teaspoon of salt to a liter of water and boil your vegetables until cooked.

5. Boil a liter of water in a large saucepan and add teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to it.

6. Add the cappellacci pasta to it and cook it according to the instructions on the packet. Mine asked for it to be cooked for 5-7 minutes.

7. Chop the tomatoes and green chillies finely.

8. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and get ready to serve it.

9. Drain the boiled vegetables too.

10. Pour the tomato sauce over the pasta, serve the vegetables separately or on top of the tomato sauce topped with onions, green chillies and grated cheese plus any condiments you enjoy..