Pasta in roasted peanut sauce

I am a crazy fan of pasta. Be it Ravioli, Tortellini, Penne or the usual Macaroni , am always up for it. My most fav is Mushroom n cheese ravioli though I have never tried it from scratch. Planning to  try my hands on it soon once we've moved to our new home next week. BTW, has anyone here tried and tasted the Delhi road side dhaba's  Chinese macaroni or Maggi - Macaroni ??.. Trust me, they are worth every penny you spend...I know its wierd to mix Maggie with Macaroni, but during those silly College days with friends everything tastes heaven.  The crux is,  I love it any form... The only issue I face with pasta is that I don't get whole wheat pasta in any other form apart from Penne or at most spaghetti. No shells, fresh egg pasta or even ravioli :( And I really dont want to go back to the good old Pasta, it is VERYYY addictive.. you know what I mean, dont ya ? ;)

Yesterday, when I thought of making pasta, I realised that I had already packed half of the stuff in bags. :( Grr,..such a disappointment!!  Had to reopen few boxes to find the Fusilli pack, and the the sauce. Opps moment ! Quickly looked in the fridge, even no pesto bottle was remaining half filled  .... Today, out of all days..  Now what ??... I thought of giving something new a try. For the past few days, am including roasted peanuts in almost every dry vegetable I make. So thought of including in this pasta as well. It was soo yummy and creamy, and the sweet taste of peanuts was providing a very different taste to the whole wheat pasta. The texture was nutty and  course, but I loved it.

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups whole wheat pasta, cooked according to the packet. 

2. 1 cup roasted peanuts , skinned and grounded

3. 1 cup mixed veggies, chopped small. ( I took carrots, caulis, peas, corns )

4. 5 tomatoes, pureed
5. 5-6 cloves of garlic, minced
6. 1 tsp oil
7. 2 tsp cream
8. 2 tsp Salt, oregano, black pepper each
9. 2 green chilies, chopped fine
10. 1 tsp green basil pesto
11. 2 tsp grated cheese

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and green chilies. Fry for a min
2. Add tomato puree and salt. Cook covered for 3-4 min until the mixture turns thick.
3. Meanwhile, steam or boil the vegetables till they are little tender but not mushy. I steamed them in Microwave for 4 min. 

4. Add these steamed vegetables to the tomato sauce. Stir well and cook covered for next 4-5 min. Keep stirring in between
5. Add pesto and spices. Cook for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Now, add roasted peanut powder to this and keep stirring for 2 min.
7. Add pasta and cream, mix well.
8. Drizzle some cheese over the top before serving.

Notes:
1. I have not used onions here, you may add them with garlic.
2. I usually keep powdered peanuts in stock. This saves time and effort each time you want to cook with it.

Sending to Presto Pasta  Night hosted by Ruth this month.

Ramya's First event : Fusion Pasta, and Jayasri's new event for August '' Only pasta , pizza and Noodles ''