Edamame Pasta in Marinara Sauce

Many of you wrote to me saying that Edamame pasta is tasteless and not very enjoyable to eat. The texture is chewy and hard. I think any pasta other that regular one is hard and slightly chewier because of the ingredient and the fiber content. That is normal. But the key to making the nutritious dish enjoyable is cooking it right and making it fun. I like to make unusual pastas taste good by adding more flavors and spices. Also cooking pasta in a different broth other than water will help it absorb flavors. That is sometimes true for whole wheat pastas too!

This recipe is my attempt to make edamame pasta more delicious. As you all know edamame pasta is made of edamame/Soy bean and is gluten free and protein rich. Protein rich soy beans are my favorite! So after a wonderful workout yesterday, this was a quick protein rich dinner we enjoyed. Instead of boiling noodles and then adding them to the sauce, I thought of cooking noodles with the sauce and letting it absorb all the flavors.

While I made pasta, my husband quickly made some garlic butter for garlic bread. He applied some garlic butter on a slice of whole wheat bread and toasted it in an oven for a delicious side of healthy pasta.

Ingredients (serves 2-3 people)
3 tbsp. olive oil (or regular oil)
2 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 medium onion chopped
3 large tomatoes chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
1 tsp. Italian herbs
1+1/2 cup water
Handful of pasta

Heat oil in a pan and fry chopped garlic.
Saute onions and bell peppers till they turn soft.
Add tomatoes and cook till they get tender.
Add salt and other spices.
Roughly mash tomatoes to make chunky sauce. Use a hand blender to blend it you like a smooth sauce.
Add 1+1/2 cup water and bring the sauce to boil.
Add pasta and allow pasta to cook and flavors from the sauce to be absorbed my the pasta. This should take 5-6 minutes.
Serve with Parmesan cheese and garlic bread.

Here is step-by-step pictorial recipe:

Heat oil in a pan and fry chopped garlic.

Saute onions and bell peppers till they turn soft.

Add tomatoes and cook till they get tender.

Add salt and other spices.

Roughly mash tomatoes to make chunky sauce. Use a hand blender to blend it you like a smooth sauce.

Add 1+1/2 cup water and bring the sauce to boil.

Add pasta and allow pasta to cook and flavors from the sauce to be absorbed my the pasta. This should take 5-6 minutes.