Pasta recipe (Beginners)

Ingredients:

Required:
1. Pasta shells/spagetti/gnochi/etc..
---quantity is dependent on your stomach size ;)
2. Onions - 1
3. Vegetables (of your choice)
--- recommended ones are: mushrooms, babycorn, peppers(any color ;) ), carrots, peas, asparagus)
4. Oil (olive oil highly recommended)
5. Pasta sauce (commonly available in store)
--- recommended: bolognese, roasted vegetables, pasta sauce with red wine, the ones with basil
ps: not all are suitable for vegetarians.
6. Garlic - either crushed or paste
7. Salt and pepper

Optional but recommended:
- Mozzarella cheese
- Olives
- basil leaves/ powder

Process:
Preparing pasta requires two intial parallel processes ;)

process 1:
Boil enough water (should be twice the amout required to submerge pasta which you will add later). The amount is usually quite substantial.

process 2:
Dice onions, cut 1/2 chillies, chop vegetables of choice, Take some oil in a large pan (large enough to fit all the ingredients) and put it on flame.

process 1: when water is boiling:
Add pasta shells, stir a little, add some salt (around half tea spoon). Bring it back to boil. Its highly important that you watch over the pasta. If it is let to boil for too long, it gets too soft and spoils the dish.

process 2: when oil is hot:
Throw in the diced onions and stir until slightly fried (golden brown). When brown, add garlic and stir. Then add all veggies, stir and let them cook. Check on process 1

process 1: when water is 'just about boiling':
Its very important for pasta shells to be cooked to the right degree. The correct way to check is take a shell out and bite into it. Uncooked pasta shells are whiter/lighter in color compared to cooked ones. When you bite into the shell, did you feel that the pasta was hard to bite into? Look inside the pasta (cross-section) and see if there are traces of uncooked pasta (i.e. parts which are lighter in color).

The correct degree of cooked pasta:
Every pasta cook has choked on this one time or the other. Pasta shells when cooked should be springy; you press on them and release, they jump back (quickly) to their original state. You probably have to be an italian by birth to get it perfect :)

Back to process 1:
When you think pasta shells are cooked, switch off the flame, take a strainer and strain out all the water. Retain only pasta shells, gently shake them, add some oil and shake again and let them remain in the vessel. Go back to process 2.

process 2: (end of parallel processing. its only process 2 from now on)

- When vegetables are cooked, add pasta sauce. How much of pasta sauce? That is by intuition and practice. Add enough to partly (75%, not completely) submerge the vegetables in the pan. Usually a medium sized bottle of pasta sauce should suffice for 3-4 servings worth of pasta. Stir well.

- After stirring, add salt (based on intuition, taste and dietary requirements).

- If you wish to use olives, add them now

- Add the pasta. mix well.

- If you wish to add mozzarella cheese, do so now (add small chunks of it). And stir
(I personally recommend doing this)

- If you wish to use crushed basil. Add it now. I haven't tried basil leaves until now

- If the thickness of the underlying sauce is ideal, remove from flame and serve.

Bon Apettit'e!

* Italians and other perfect pasta makers might not agree with this recipe completely! But this is the closest I have gotten so far.