In the last recipe, we presented the concept of ‘LEGO cooking’ and how you can build any dish by following 4 simple steps. Mastering this modular approach to cooking does two things for you.
1. It makes you independent from cooking books and recipe databases and,
2. It gives you the freedom to freestyle in the kitchen with a consistent quality of the final result.
Read about: How we applied the LEGO approach to cooking to building a Quinoa salad with Mango and Ginger.
In this article, we’re going to use the LEGO framework to build a dish like the one on the picture above. Those of you who are already familiar with LEGO cooking know that this boils down to answering three questions – what to cook (step 1), which ingredients to use (step 2&3), and how to cook them (step 4)?
What to cook
When it comes to meal planning the first decision you want to make is what type of dish you feel like. Choose between wok, soup, stew, pasta, salad, etc.
Our pick – A delicious pasta dish.
Cherry Tomato Recipes – Which ingredients to support
Get started with one ingredient that you have in your fridge or you crave for. Next, add more ingredients that work well together with your first ingredient. The trick here is to balance your selection so that all flavors work in harmony. The easiest and safest way to do this is to use Plant Jammer’s free app (no download needed) that will guide you in selecting the right ingredients and ensure that the basic principles of gastronomy are respected. Our picks:
Base ingredient – cherry tomatoes.
Pairing ingredients – green bell pepper, pesto, shallots, garlic, coriander seeds and basil
If some of the ingredients don’t fit your taste buds, you can always use the app to find other matching substitutes.
How to cook them
The final step is to apply heat to the individual ingredients. In order to get the most out of the flavor, the Plant Jammer app recommends to boil the pasta, fry the shallots, garlic, green bell pepper and coriander seeds, toast the basil leaves (optional) and add the cherry tomatoes raw at the end. The step-by-step instructions can be found in the recipe section below.
Your turn. Play a game of cooking and try to build your own dish using the LEGO framework.
Bon Appétit!

Prep Time | 10 minutes |
Cook Time | 10 minutes |
Servings |
people
|
- 2 1/2 cups Pasta of your choice
- 2 cups Cherry tomatoes
- 1 large Green bell pepper
- 2 tbsp Green pesto
- 3 small Shallots
- 2 tsp Coriander seeds
- 10 leaves Fresh Basil
- 2 cloves garlic
Ingredients
|
![]() |
- Wash and cut the basil, tomatoes, and peppers
- Fry shalllots, coriander seeds and garlic
- Fry shallots, coriander seeds, garlic and peppers in hot clear oil for few minutes
- Boil the pasta following the package directions
- Add all ingredients together and mix with pesto and olive oil
- Add fresh basil on top (optional: toast basil on dry and hot pan)