Pasta Veraniega (Summery Pasta) – Easy Cook Stove Top Vegetarian and Vegan Recipe

Pasta Veraniega is a super easy yet delicious pasta dish suitable for vegans and vegetarians which we’ve created so it will be easy to make during your next holiday in Spain, even the smallest of self catering apartment kitchens.

This is a summery pasta dish which uses fresh cherry tomatoes, peppers and courgette as the base – however there’s no reason why you can’t substitute or add in other vegetables if you prefer.

This Pasta Veraniega (Summery Pasta) dish is suitable for both vegans and vegetarians. We’ve suggested the option of topping with cheese or a vegan alternative, so pick the one that meets your requirements. You’ll find more about vegan cheese in Spain HERE.

Serve with a fresh green salad (you will find bags or ready prepared salad leaves in most midsize and up supermarkets) and add a chunk or two of crusty artisan bread for those with big appetites!

Shopping Guide & Alternatives

All of these ingredients are readily available in even the smallest of supermarkets.

Tomate Triturado

We’ve suggested using Tomate Triturado (chopped tomatoes) for ease, but you will find many different options in the canned tomato section of most supermarkets. Buy tinned whole tomatoes (entero pelado) if you prefer or for added richness use tomate frito.

Red Pepper

We’ve suggested using fresh red pepper and you should be able to buy a single red pepper in most stores. However, if you can’t find one or if they are only sold in kilo packs, check out both the frozen food section for frozen peppers – or take a look near the tomato section in the supermarket where you will find jars and tins of ready prepared roast tomatoes (if you use these, add them in at the end of the cooking as they are pre cooked.

This is the sort of thing you are looking for:

Garlic

If you don’t want to fuss with preparing and chopping garlic, you will find dried garlic granules in the spice section of most supermarkets. You may also find packs of frozen garlic.

Green Olives

We suggest using green olives with this dish. The green olives compliment the sweetness of the tomato and pepper. Be careful when buying green olives to avoid any which are stuffed with anchovy (anchoa) or are flavoured with anchovy. Of course you can substitute black olives if you prefer or leave them out completely.

Olive Oil

It’s worth investing in a small bottle of virgin olive oil to see you through your stay. You can use this not only for cooking, but for salads – and even as a toast topping! However, if you prefer other oils, you will find a good selection in most supermarkets. Olive oil and sunflower oil are super-readily available throughout Spain.

Herbs

A few herbs will add additional flavour to this dish. You will find fresh herbs near the salad section in supermarkets – you may also find frozen herbs in the freezer section. You will also find a range of dried herbs in the herbs and spices section. If you like, you could look for a small jar of mixed herbs to use during your stay, rather than buy lots of different herbs which may result in waste.

Ingredient List in Spanish

Here are the words for the key ingredients in Spanish:

• Espaguetis o Fettuccine (spaghetti or fettuccine)
• Tomates Triturado
• Tomates Cherry (cherry tomatoes)
• Pimiento Rojo (red pepper)
• Calabacines (courgette)
• Ajo (garlic)
• Aceite de Oliva (olive oil)
• Sal y Pimienta (salt and pepper)
• Piñones o semillas de girasol (pine nuts or sunflower seeds
• Queso (cheese)

Quick Alternative to the Vegetables

We’ve suggested using fresh vegetables in this Pasta Veraniega pasta dish – however, if you want a quick alternative, to save on the chopping and preparing of the vegetables, take a look in the frozen food section of supermarkets for frozen vegetable mixes (salteado de verduras). You will find there are packs of roast vegetables (verduras asadas) available which will be a great quick alternative.

Tip: Watch out for frozen mixes that contain meat or seafood. It’s not unusual to find mixes containing meat and seafood in the frozen vegetable section of supermarkets.

We’ve kept this super simple so you don’t need lots of pots or pans. Neither do you need to weigh the ingredients. This is a 2-pan stove top recipe!

As long as you have a pan big enough to cook the pasta – and a frying pan or saucepan suitable for the sauce, you’ll be fine!

Pasta Veraniega (Summery Pasta) Recipe

Pasta Veraniega (Summery Pasta)

Here's a quick simple yet tasty stove-top pasta dish, made using ready-to find ingredients – perfect for cooking in your holiday rental.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 4

Equipment

• Saucepan
• frying pan or skillet

Ingredients

  

• 1 pack (500g) Spaghetti or Fettuccine
• 1 can (400g) Chopped Tomatoes (Triturado) Look for the smaller cans 390/400g
• 1 punnet (around 250g) Cherry Tomatoes If you can't get cherry tomatoes, just use normal tomatoes chopped into smaller pieces
• 1 Red Pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 2 Courgette, sliced
• 2 Cloves Garlic Alternatively, look for dried granulated garlic in the dried spices section
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Handful of Pine Nuts or Sunflower Seeds
• 1 Handful of Green Olives Or use black olives if you prefer the taste
• Seasoning to taste See notes on seasoning below
• Parmesan cheese or vegan equivalent to top the dish Alternatively, this is a good way to use up and odds and ends of tasty cheese you have left over from other meals

Instructions

 

• Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.
• Add the minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the sliced red pepper and courgette and cook until softened, about 5-7 minutes.
• Add the halved cherry tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, or until they start to burst.
• Stir in the chopped tomatoes and any seasoning
• Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Cook Pasta

• While the sauce is simmering, check the cooking time of the pasta you are using, bring salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack.

Combine and Serve:

• Drain the pasta and add the cooked pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.
• Sprinkle with pine nuts or sunflower seeds and add the olives to the top of the dish.
• Serve with crusty bread, salad and a glass of crisp Spanish rose wine.

Notes

Any leftover pasta and sauce can be chilled and will make a great base for a light soup or pasta salad for the next day.

Seasoning

We develop all of our recipes to use ingredients you are likely to have in your self catering accommodation kitchen. We rely on the rich flavours of the ingredients to pack as much of a flavourful punch as possible. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t add more seasoning if you have it available. 

Of course a pinch or pimenton de vera will add a smoky heat to the sauce or a few fresh herbs (found in/near the salad section of supermarkets) to add additional flavour.

Keyword pasta, stove top