This summer vegetable pasta with peppers & corn is spiral pasta mixed with a sweet cherry tomato sauce and colourful summer vegetables.

Summer Vegetable Pasta with Peppers & Corn

This colourful pasta dish is my latest obsession.

Spiral pasta is coated in the most incredible sweet tomato sauce.

It's cooked with herbs and spices for flavour and a little heat which pairs beautifully with the sweet cherry tomatoes.

The saucy pasta is studded with jewel-like pops of corn and little bites of sugar snap peas.

Oh yeah baby!

Fresh or tinned cherry tomatoes

For this rather special pasta dish, I used tinned cherry tomatoes.

They hold their shape beautifully and pop in your mouth for a juicy bite of flavour as you eat the pasta.

Fresh cherry tomatoes wouldn't work in this dish as you need the tomato sauce in with the tinned cherry tomatoes to make the luscious sauce.

Can't find tinned cherry tomatoes?

If you can't get hold of tinned (canned ) cherry tomatoes, you could use standard chopped tomatoes and add some fresh cherry tomatoes to the sauce.

Tinned cherry tomatoes have a sweeter flavour, so do buy them if you can. 

If not, this is a good alternative.

Using tinned tomatoes, then you might want to add a spoonful of sugar to the sauce to help sweeten it.

Cooking vegetables with the pasta

Call me ingenious or call me lazy, but if I'm cooking veg to add to pasta I cook it in the pasta water.

It just makes dinner super easy.

Less pots to handle on the cooker top and less washing up afterwards.

I've been doing this for years, but my husband just spotted me doing it this week and was astonished to see me throwing veg in with the cooking pasta.

That's how often he ventures into the kitchen when I am cooking, bless him.

You have to laugh! He also questioned it. Mr Three-Dish Repertoire. Chortle.

Tips for cooking vegetables with pasta

Cooking vegetables along with pasta is time-saving, economical and means less washing up.

Here are a few tips.

1. Large pot - As with cooking any pasta, you want a large pot (a stock or soup pot is perfect) and deep, salted and rapidly boiling water.
2. No oil - Never add oil to the water, it doesn't stop pasta from sticking and just leaves you with oily pasta. To make sure pasta doesn't stick, make sure the water is rapidly boiling and stir the pasta as soon as you add it and regularly as it cooks. If it's a deep pot and there's plenty of water it will not stick together.
3. More Veg - Add veg to the cooking water so they are ready at the same time as the pasta. So if they take 3 minutes to cook add them 3 minutes before the end.
4. Corn - Tinned corn can be added right at the end, just a couple of minutes before the pasta is drained as it just needs to be warmed through.
5. Fresh or Frozen - You can add fresh veg or frozen veg.
6. Tip for frozen - If you are adding frozen veg, it will reduce the temperature of the boiling water, so cover the pot with a lid and let it come to a boil again. The pasta may need a couple of minutes longer because of this.

Ingredients you need

Here are the ingredients you need to make this delicious summery pasta dish.

• Pasta - I used spiral, but bow tie (farfalle) pasta would be fun too
• Tinned Cherry Tomatoes  - can't find any, then add tinned tomatoes and some fresh cherry tomatoes to the cooking sauce
• Roasted Peppers - I used jarred ready roasted, but you could roast your own
• Sundried Tomato Paste - lovely stuff, it adds so much flavour
• Sugar Snap Peas - similar to snow peas but a bit sweeter, mangetout would work too
• Sweetcorn - I used tinned but frozen would be fine
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Olive Oil
• Onion
• Garlic
• Chilli Flakes - add more if you like, it has a pleasant warmth and a little kick rather than lots of heat if you stick to the recipe
• Paprika
• Dried Parsley
• Salt & Pepper

Variations to this recipe

Here are a few ideas to vary this delicious vegetable pasta.

1. Olives - add black (or green olives) instead of corn
2. Frozen Peas - skip the sugar snap peas and add frozen peas and frozen corn
3. Dried Basil - no fresh basil, add dried basil at the same time as the parsley
4. Red Wine - instead of balsamic vinegar, add red wine for a richer sauce
5. Sundried Tomatoes - would also be a good addition
6. Tomato Puree - if you can't find sundried tomato paste, you can add tomato puree

Fun pasta shapes to use

I used spiral pasta for this summer pasta dish, which I think is actually called spirali or cavatappi but here are a few other fun pasta shapes you can try instead.

1. Conchiglie - pasta shells
2. Farfalle - bow tie pasta
3. Fusilli - spring shaped pasta, that's not hollow like spiral pasta
4. Gemelli - twists of pasta
5. Messicani - which I call belly button pasta
6. Penne - tubes of pasta diagonally cut at the ends
7. Rigatoni - ridged tubes of pasta

How to serve summer vegetable pasta

Here are some serving suggestions for this vegan summer pasta.

• Vegan Style Parmesan - topped with grated vegan style parmesan and fresh basil
• Garlic Bread - with garlic bread for a win
• Pizza Please - Beside a slice of pizza for the best of both worlds
• Cold - served cold as a pasta salad

Serving as a summer vegetable pasta salad

For the best results, follow my tips.

• Rinse the cooked pasta and veg until completely cold
• Cool the sauce before adding it to the pasta (if you don't cool the pasta it will continue cooking and go soft and claggy)
• You can store it in an airtight container in the fridge for a few days
• Serve in lunch boxes, for a picnic or as part of a buffet
• Great as part of a picky dinner with salad, crusty bread and potato salad, where everyone can help themselves

More summery vegan recipes to try

Here are a few more delicious but easy summer dishes to enjoy this summer or put you in the mood for summer.

• Boursin Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes
• Carrot & Chive Tart
• Carrot & Dill Coleslaw
• Creamy Courgette Pasta with Potatoes
• Jerk Tofu BBQ Skewers
• Stuffed Picnic Loaf
• Summer Greek Pasta Salad
• Tex Mex Corn Chopped Salad with Vegan Feta

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How to Make Summer Vegetable Pasta

Scroll down for step-by-step photos followed by a full printable recipe. If you don't have a printer, hit print then save as a PDF.

Step 1

• In a large pan saute the onion and garlic in olive oil.
• When the onions are soft, add the herbs, spices.
• Season with salt and pepper.

Step 2

• Add the tinned cherry tomatoes. If you don't have any, you can add tinned chopped tomatoes and fresh cherry tomatoes.
• Add the peppers and sundried tomato paste, which will add a lot of flavour.
• Full, printable recipe card below.

Step 3

• Gently cook the sauce down until it thickens.
• While the sauce cooks, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Add the veg to the water a few minutes before the pasta is cooked.
• Add the fresh basil to the sauce. Always add fresh herbs at the end of cooking.

Step 4

• Add the freshly cooked pasta and vegetables to the sauce and mix well.
• Serve topped with grated vegan-style parmesan and fresh basil.
• Enjoy!

summer pasta, vegan pasta, pasta recipe

dinner

Italian, vegan

Yield: 4-6

Author: Jacqueline Meldrum

Summer Vegetable Pasta with Peppers & Corn

This summer vegetable pasta with peppers & corn is made with spiral pasta mixed with a sweet cherry tomato sauce and colourful summer vegetables.

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 25 Min

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely grated
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper
• 2 x 400g (14oz) tins cherry tomatoes
• 140g (1/2 of a 280g/10 oz jar of pepper antipasti or 1 large roasted pepper, chopped into large chunks) roasted pepper pieces
• 2 teaspoons sundried tomato paste (or tomato puree)
• 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 200ml (0.85 cups) water
• 400g (14oz) spiral pasta
• 160g (5 1/2 oz) sugar snap peas (snow peas), chopped into slices
• 165g (drained 198g/7 oz tin) sweetcorn

Instructions

1. In a large pan, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft.
2. Add the herbs, chilli, salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Add the cherry tomatoes, peppers and sundried tomato paste.
4. Now add the balsamic vinegar and water and mix well, then cook gently.
5. While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
6. Add the sugar snap peas and sweetcorn to the cooking pasta 2-3 minutes before the end of the pasta cook time.
7. Drain the pasta well, then toss in the sauce and enjoy!

Notes

Sundried tomato paste - can be replaced with tomato puree

Tinned Cherry Tomatoes - can be replaced with tinned chopped tomatoes and extra fresh cherry tomatoes

Chilli Flakes - you can add more if you like more heat

If serving this as pasta salad, cool the cooked pasta and veg completely under the cold tap, before adding the cooled sauce.

Once cool, this pasta can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for 2-3 days.

Calories

4 servings = 523 calories per serving

5 Servings = 418 calories per serving

6 servings = 348 calories per serving

Nutrition Facts

Calories

348.4

Fat (grams)

4.35

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.62

Carbs (grams)

66.18

Fiber (grams)

5.15

Net carbs

61.02

Sugar (grams)

8.36

Protein (grams)

12.14

Sodium (milligrams)

408.89

Cholesterol (grams)

0

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