Pesto Pasta with Veggies

This is one of my favourite pastas. I love pesto, and the colourful veggies brighten up a cold winter's evening. It's relatively healthy too - I use Catelli Smart Pasta for the extra fibre, and the vegetable stock not only livens up the flavour a bit but it also reduces the amount of pesto used (1/8 cup per serving (115 calories) instead of the standard 1/4 cup serving (230 calories)). Pesto is also high in heart-healthy monounsturated fat (I'm trying to find reasons why I can still eat all of my favourite foods while continuing to be on my diet...).

Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 small zucchini, cut into matchsticks
2 slices of red onion
6 mushrooms, sliced
Handful of grape tomatoes, cut in half
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup pesto
2 tbsp vegetable stock
Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
170 grams (2 servings) linguine

Method
Cook pasta according to package directions. Be sure to generously salt the water. (I always use a kitchen scale to measure out pasta portions - I love carbs so I need to control myself!)

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onions to pan and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add mushrooms, then carrots and zucchini and cook until desired tenderness. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Drain pasta, reserving 2 tbsp of cooking water. The starch in the cooking water will help the sauce to coat the noodles evenly.

Add the pesto, vegetable stock and cooking water to the veggies and stir to mix evenly. Toss in the cooked pasta.

Divide into 2 equal portions. Top with the grape tomatoes and some shaved Parmesan cheese.