Creamy Pesto Pasta with vegetables

I know this post might come as a surprise to most readers, who know my love-hate relationship with cooking. Even though cooking is not on my to-do list, I venture into the kitchen to cook the dishes I love.

When it comes to cuisines, I love Italian a lot and love to cook some Italian dishes at home. I love experimenting with different ingredients to make pastas and salads. Here is my  recipe for creamy Pesto pasta with vegetables, which is not only quick to make but also tastes quite delicious.

Take 200 grams of raw pasta of any shape, I prefer Penne or Fusilli and cook it al dente as per the instructions given on the packet.

While the pasta is cooking, you can wash and chop different types of vegetables such as

200 gms Broccoli, 1 Red Bell pepper, 1 Yellow Bell pepper, 10-12 mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, baby corn and keep them aside.

Take a frying pan and put some olive oil in it and after it hot reduce the heat and add 2 crushed garlic pods (this is optional). Usually the Pesto sauce has garlic in it so you skip the garlic if you don't like too much. I add it cause I like strong garlicky flavour to my pasta.

To the oil you add all these vegetables and stir fry them on a high flame. If you wish you could par boil broccoli and baby corn before you add it to the oil as they take a little longer to cook.

In the mean time the pasta would have cooked, drain in a colander and immediately wash it with cold water to stop it from cooking and keep it aside.

Don't overcook the vegetables as they go limp and lose all their flavour  To the frying pan that has the vegetables, you add the following ingredients cream (could be home made or of any brand you like), Basil Pesto (I use the one from Green Tokri, which is available in Pune and is very reasonably priced), Italian mixed herbs, Black pepper and salt.

Stir this mixture together. The Pesto you can add as per your liking. You can even add fresh herbs and Parmesan cheese, if you have any.  Stir everything together and let it cook for a minute or two. You can add a bit of milk if you like to make the sauce thinner.

If you plan to eat the pasta right away, add the pasta to the sauce and stir it well. If you plan to eat it after a while, then heat the sauce and then mix the sauce and the pasta together just before you eat, else the pasta will soak up all the sauce.

Serve this in a rustic dish topped with fresh basil leaves and Paremsan cheese, with warm garlic bread, salad and a glass of wine or fruit juice and you will have people licking the plate clean. 

Enjoy!!!!

Caption Contest 21 ' You think you are funny?"

I know I have been a bad girl and have not visited your blogs in sometime. You all know what vacation does to you....I promise to visit your blogs soon.

In the meantime, here is a picture for you.

This is Caption Contest 21 "You think you are funny? 

Give a funny caption to the picture below.

image courtesy: Google

All the Best. 

P.S: For those people who would like to know the rules, please check here. 

Winner of Caption Contest 20 'You think you are funny?'

Here is the winner of the Caption Contest 20, ‘You think you are funny?’  

Namrota Mazumdar: "Its my personal gym Train-er."

Congratulations!!!

Drop me a mail at and I will mail you the trophy.

Hope to see you in another round of Caption Contest this Wednesday. 

Caption Contest 20 "You think you are funny?"

The Caption contest got moved to Thursday this week, as you guys know I am on a vacation and got a wee bit lazy and forgot to post it yesterday.

Here is the picture for you.

This is Caption Contest 20 "You think you are funny? 

Give a funny caption to the picture below.

All the Best. 

P.S: For those people who would like to know the rules, please check here. 

Winner of Caption Contest 19 "You think you are funny?

Here is the winner of the Caption Contest 19, ‘You think you are funny?’  

NISHA - Who mixed tequila in my tea? Hic !!

Congratulations!!!

Drop me a mail at and I will mail you the trophy.

Hope to see you in another round of Caption Contest this Wednesday. 

Caption Contest 19 "You think you are funny?"

This is the Caption contest ‘You think you are funny?’

Please Write a Caption for the picture below :

Photo Courtesy: Google

All the Best. 

P.S: For those people who would like to know the rules, please check here. 

Winners of the 5th Blogiversary Giveaway

The winners of the Blogiversary Give away are

1) Aditi Purohit
2) Shilpa Garg

Congratulations !!!!

To be frank, only these two people participated in the Blogiversary competition, which albeit a bit disappointing was much better than no one taking part. I am giving away Flipkart vouchers worth Rs. 250 to each of both these lovely ladies. 

It was quite easy to find the answers, you had to just use the search button on my blog and Voilà, you would have all the answers in 15 minutes. 

1) A post about ridiculous things people say - People say the darnedest things

2) A post where I talk about my hair woes- Hairy Tales

3) A post where I just manage to make Paneer (Cottage Cheese)- Cooking tips for the uninitiated 1

4) A post where I talk about the birds and bees with someone- How to talk dirty, to a teenager

5) A post where the Bollywood mother reigns supreme- Mothers day special

6) A post where I review an unintentionally funny Hindi movie - Killerk

7) According to me, what things should one not do in public?- 5 things you should never do in public

8) A post where I write a story about Kaveri ? Is she able to break out of the shackles of prostitution? - Divine Prostitution 

9) A post where I talk about my errant eyebrows - SNAFU

10)  What is the name of the book that I have co-authored and also the name of my Content writing company? Newspapers- an untapped medium and The Scribbling Pad


Please send me your addresses and I will send you the vouchers.

Thanks for taking part and making this occasion special.