Healthy Creamy Pasta With Squash, Carrots & Walnuts
Recipe: #21296
October 13, 2015
Categories: Side Dishes, Walnut, Spaghetti Italian, Vegetarian, Kosher Dairy, more
"This is an extremely quick cooking dish; which is perfect for a week night dinner. Also, it is a meatless dish, perfect for that 'Meatless Monday;' or, this makes a great side dish too. Now, this is a pretty simple dish; but, I do take the time to grate the vegetables by hand; however, you could always use a food processor."
Ingredients
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- VEGETABLES AND SAUCE
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- Garnish
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Nutritional
- Serving Size: 1 (690.6 g)
- Calories 523.6
- Total Fat - 20.4 g
- Saturated Fat - 4.2 g
- Cholesterol - 54.3 mg
- Sodium - 230.9 mg
- Total Carbohydrate - 75 g
- Dietary Fiber - 8.8 g
- Sugars - 22.1 g
- Protein - 19.1 g
- Calcium - 335.8 mg
- Iron - 5 mg
- Vitamin C - 49.4 mg
- Thiamin - 0.7 mg
Step by Step Method
Step 1
Vegetables ... I usually grate my vegetables by hand; but, the food processor works great for this.
Step 2
Add the olive oil to a saute pan, and bring to medium high heat. Add the carrots, red pepper flakes, a pinch of salt and pepper; and, saute 2 minutes. Then add the zucchini, yellow squash, garlic, and shallot, and cook another 2 minutes. That is it - you do NOT want to over cook the vegetables - they should be crisp but tender. Remove from the heat, transfer to small bowl, add the lemon juice and zest, herbs; and, toss to combine. Cover with foil to keep warm.
Step 3
Pasta ... Cook the pasta according to package directions, in plenty of salted water. You can use dry pasta; however, fresh pasta is really best in this recipe. And, fresh pasta is really quick cooking, so keep an eye on it. Once the pasta is done; drain, return to the pot; but reserve a cup of the cooking water.
Step 4
Finish ... Add the cooked vegetables to the drained pasta, along with the ricotta, pecorino cheese; walnuts, and, toss to combine. The heat of the pasta and vegetables, is enough to heat up the cheese. I like to add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen up the sauce and make it creamy. Make sure to re-season with salt and pepper, if necessary.
Step 5
Serve and ENJOY! ... Transfer to a serving bowl; drizzle with a little olive oil and a few extra herbs. The vegetables will have a little crispness to them, which is what you want. It is a really nice, delicious; yet easy dish to prepare. Again, it is a great main 'meatless' dish; or, a great side dish.
Tips
No special items needed.