Today's theme is pasta. Yes, I am clearing out the pasta section of my backlog, and this is the first half of that. We've already covered some of the salads and soups in previous posts.
Persian Noodles and Lentils (pg 214).
This is an interesting pasta dish, combining brown lentils, tinned tomatoes and walnuts with sweet dates. I know some people are on the fence or downright hate fruit in savoury dishes, but if you aren't one of those you will enjoy this a lot.
Penne with Chickpeas and Rosemary (pg 210).
Simple, very fast and pretty self-explanatory, really. In retrospect I should have made it with fresh rosemary from the garden. I think it was pelting down rain or something so I didn't want to go out. Or not. I cooked this ages ago, so I could be making that part up. I do always try and use fresh rosemary from the garden where I can though.
Penne with Vodka-Spiked Tomato Sauce (pg 198).
I have been in love with vodka sauce ever since that recipe from Veganomicon blew my mind. This recipe uses pureed beans and soy milk for the creamy component. It was good, but not as good as the Vcon one (which uses ground almonds). I served it with a Fry's schnitzel and some salad.
Penne with Peanut Pesto (pg 203).
This is fantastic. The pesto is thick and yummy, and leftovers also make a really good spread for sandwiches. I served it with some pan-fried Asian marinated tofu (from a packet) and some roasted asparagus.
Linguine Puttanesca (pg 196).
I love puttanesca sauce, and this one was no exception. So many wonderful, juicy olives! I added a tin of kidney beans for protein.
Tricolour Rotini with Pesto Bianco (pg 202).
The white pesto is made from pine nuts, cashews and artichoke hearts for a unique flavour. I used a 375g bag of pasta, rather than 1 pound, which made enough for three to four servings. I found I had too much pesto for the pasta, but it made an excellent sandwich spread. I served it with my much loved Soy-Glazed Tofu with some steamed broccoli. The leftovers also made an exceptional pasta salad, I stirred through a few spoons of vegan mayo and added chopped up left-over tofu and broccoli, quartered cherry tomatoes, sliced olives and peas.
Fettuccine with Chard and Red Lentil Tomato Sauce (pg 199).
I love lentil-based pasta sauces, and adding some silverbeet (chard) makes for pretty much a complete meal. The recipe calls for cooking the lentils for thirty minutes, and this makes them very mushy, so if you would prefer a bit more texture from your lentils then cook them for less.
Rotini and Almond-Mint Pesto with Orange Zest (pg 203).
Another pesto with a difference, almond, mint and orange combine to make a refreshing and slightly tangy pasta dish. Served with some Soy-Glazed Tofu and some salad greens for a complete meal. I also made a pasta salad out of these leftovers, chopping up the remaining tofu and mixing it all together with some peas, corn and sliced cherry tomatoes.
Pasta Primavera (pg 206).
Another recipe calling for the pretty three-coloured pasta spirals, I again used a 350g bag (that's what these come in). This was a quick, nice recipe, but next time I would double or even triple the amount of vegetables in the pasta, because I like a high vegetable to pasta ratio. The vegetables are zucchini, asparagus and green onions, and I added a carrot in place of the red capsicum.
Cute Kitty Photo of the Post
Check out this cutie. Sahara does not go outside except to go out into our CatMax cat enclosure. We have an old wheelbarrow in there that is filled with old towels and jumpers and pillows, and she loves to sleep in it. I took a few photos of her this day, because she was striking the cutest pose in it, I will share the other photos in future posts. I want to snorgle that face right now... oh wait, I can!
(% 1000 Vegan Recipes Blogged: 12.9%)(We are over 1/8th of the way through the book on this blog!)
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