Conchiglie Pasta with Airfried Vegetables

Conchiglie Pasta with airfried vegetables is a favourite weeknight dinner ready under half an hour perfect for busy evenings. One of my favourite pasta shapes are the shell like or seashell shaped pasta called Conchiglie that come from the South of Italy. The unique cone like shape makes the sauce easier to stick making for a hearty meal.

The sauce for this pasta is easily cooked while the pasta boils away cooking in about 15 – 20 minutes.

I start with cutting vegetables into large strips, this time it is red bell pepper AKA Capsicum and a medium eggplant to go into the Airfryer.

I use the simmer method to avoid waste and messy kitchens! The simmer method of cooking pasta was first popularised in a New York Times article by Harold McGee. The article says that pasta is cooked in a lesser amount of water about 1.5 litres, which can be cold. Season with salt and add the pasta to the pot and bring to a rolling boil. I’ve noticed that the pasta takes about 20 minutes.

While the pasta boils, I make the pasta sauce with tomatoes, carrot, onion, garlic and red chilli flakes in my blender.

We need,

For the Airfried Veggies,

1 large Bell Pepper/ Capsicum, cored, deseeded & cut into finger sized strips.
1 medium Eggplant, cut into finger sized strips.

For the Pasta Sauce,

1 large Brown Onion, diced
4 – 5 cloves of Garlic, peeled
1 tin of Diced Tomatoes (400 g tin)
1 – 2 Carrots, cut up roughly
Salt, to taste
1 teaspoon Chilli Flakes. Increase or decrease depending on desired hotness!
½ a bunch fresh Basil Leaves for garnishing, minced
1 large handful, Baby Spinach Leaves, washed & dried.

For the pasta,

1 cup Shell Pasta
1.5 litres of tap Water
1 teaspoon Salt, optional but recommended

Directions,

Layer the vegetable strips in the air fryer and bake at 190 degrees C for 15 minutes. Spray nonstick spray if desired, I find they roast beautifully even without oil.

Boil the pasta in a large stock pot of at least 5 litres capacity so the pasta doesn’t stick to each other or the sides and bottom.

For the sauce blend together the onion, garlic, diced tomatoes, carrots, chilli flakes and salt until a thick purée forms. I use my high speed Breville Boss blender jar, so a strong blender is required.

Once that is done, in a large saucepan add the sauce into a deep nonstick or stoneware pan and cook on low heat until the pasta is cooked.

Add the cooked pasta with any remaining water into the sauce and mix well.

Simmer for 10 minutes and garnish with chopped up basil and baby spinach leaves.

The Conchiglie Pasta with Airfried Vegetables tastes great warm and even better the next day for leftover lunchboxes!