Spring Veggie Pasta Salad – serves 6 to 8

 

Inspired by Twelve Months of Monastery Salads
By Brother Victor-Antoine d’Avila-LaTourette

Penne with Chicken & Asparagus – serves 8

 

 

Source: allrecipes.com

By: Laurel B

Shrimp & Spaghetti – serves 5

 

Source: allrecipes.com

By: J. Morris

 

Thai Pasta with Garden Vegetables – serves 4 to 6

Canned coconut milk and curry spices combined with healthful broccoli and red bell peppers make a colorful supper rich in nutrients and filled with mouthwatering flavors. INGREDIENTS:
1	pound	fettucine, or your favorite pasta, preferably whole-grain
5	c	broccoli florets (about 2 heads)
2	t	minced fresh ginger
1	14-oz can	regular or reduced-fat coconut milk
1	T	brown sugar
1/4	c	chopped fresh cilantro or basil

METHOD:

1. Cook the fettucine in a large pot of boiling salted water until just al dente, about 8 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok or large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add broccoli and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water. Cover, and steam until the broccoli is just bright green and barely tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Add peppers and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute more. Remove to a bowl and cover to keep warm.

3. Add the coconut milk, curry base, and brown sugar to the pan and return to medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, whisking until thoroughly mixed. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes.

4. Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl or return to the pasta pot. Mix in a few tablespoons of the curry sauce just to moisten the pasta. Stir the vegetables into the remaining sauce.

5. Divide the pasta among plates and top with the vegetables and sauce. Sprinkle with the peanuts and cilantro or basil.

Pork & Seashells with Summer Vegetable – serves 4

"Chunks of browned pork and summer vegetables are cooked in a tomato sauce and served over seashell pasta."

INGREDIENTS:
225 g seashell pasta
20 ml olive oil, divided
3 boneless pork loin chops, cut into bite sized pieces
Worcestershire sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste
60 g green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow squash, cut into bite sized pieces
1/2 zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces
85 g fresh mushrooms, sliced
55 g onion, chopped
1-1/2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
15 g tomato paste
30 ml red wine
3 g dried basil
0.7 g dried thyme
0.8 g dried oregano
1 bay leaves
1/2 dash red pepper flakes
grated Parmesan cheese for topping

METHOD:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add seashell pasta, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the pork in the skillet, and season with Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until almost done. Remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the green pepper, squash, zucchini, mushrooms, onion, and garlic 3 to 4 minutes. Return the pork to the skillet.
4. Mix in the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and wine into the skillet. Season with basil, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 35 minutes. Remove the bay leaves, and serve over the cooked pasta with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.

Prep Time:15 Minutes
Cook Time:1 Hour
Ready In:1 Hour 15 Minutes

Courtesy of Collier Austin, from AllRecipes.

Shrimp Lemon Pepper Linguine – serves 4

Ingredients:
224 g linguine pasta
15 ml olive oil
6 cloves garlic, minced
120 ml chicken broth
60 ml white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1 g lemon zest
salt to taste
4 g freshly ground black pepper
455 g fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined
55 g butter
10 g chopped fresh parsley
3 g chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add linguine, and cook for 9 to 13 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, and saute garlic about 1 minute.
3. Mix in chicken broth, wine, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat, and simmer until liquid is reduced by about 1/2.
4. Mix shrimp, butter, parsley, and basil into the saucepan. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, until shrimp is opaque. Stir in the cooked linguine, and continue cooking 2 minutes, until well coated.

Preparation time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins

From AllRecipes

Roasted Vegetables and Creamy Cheese Pasta – serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS
6 cups winter squash, such as acorn or butternut, cut into 1-inch chunks
3 cups cauliflower or broccoli, cut into bite-size florets
1 1/2 cup onions, cut in largish chunks
1 cup red or green bell peppers, sliced into 1-inch wide strips
8 garlic cloves, sliced thickly
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves (or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried)
Sea salt, to taste
1 pound penne pasta
One 6-ounce log goat cheese, cut into chunks (or you could substitute fresh mozzarella)

METHOD
1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a large mixing bowl, place squash, cauliflower or broccoli, onions, peppers, garlic, oil, and rosemary, stirring well to mix.

3. Place vegetables in a baking dish and cover. Bake 45 minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

4. As vegetables bake, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and add pasta, cooking until barely al dente according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large serving bowl.

5. Add roasted vegetables to pasta and toss to combine. Top with chunks of goat cheese or mozzarella and serve.

Pasta with Pink Pepper Cream Sauce – serves 8

INGREDIENTS

* 2 large red bell peppers
* Olive oil for coating peppers
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 large garlic clove, minced
* 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, minced
* 2 cups half-and-half or soy milk
* 1/4 cup freshly-grated Romano cheese or vegan soy cheese
* 4 tablespoons butter or trans-fat-free margarine
* Salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
* One package pasta of choice

METHOD

1. First, roast the peppers: coat whole peppers with oil, then place under a preheated broiler, turning peppers at least once, until skin has blackened all over. Remove peppers from broiler and place in a paper bag until cooled (this will help to make removing the skins a cinch).

2. Remove skin from peppers, then cut them in half, remove seeds, and dice flesh.

3. In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat, then add garlic, basil, and diced peppers. Saute for about 10 minutes, until flavors meld.

4. Transfer pepper mixture to a blender and puree, then return to saucepan and allow to return to a boil. Add half-and-half and cheese, stirring and continuing to cook until cheese has melted. Add butter and allow to melt, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta of choice and cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl. Top with sauce and toss to combine. Serve hot.

Bavarian Macaroni & Cheese Bake

Ingredients:
8 ounces Elbow or Small Shell Macaroni
3 tablespoons Margarine or Butter
2 tablespoons All Purpose Flour
2 cups 2% Milk
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Pepper, ground
1/4 teaspoon Paprika, ground
1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
8 ounces Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
12 ounces Bavarian Brand Oven Roasted Honey Ham, cubed
2 tablespoons Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon Paprika, ground
1 teaspoon Sara Lee Dijon Mustard

Method:
1. Cook macaroni in rapidly boiling water until slightly underdone.
2. Rinse with cold water to cool and drain thoroughly.
3. Melt margarine in large kettle.
4. Add flour and cook 8-10 minutes over medium-low heat. Do not brown.
5. Whisk in milk and cool over medium-low heat until thickened and smooth.
6. Add salt, mustard, pepper, paprika and onion powder and blend thoroughly.
7. Turn heat down to low and add cheese.
8. Stir constantly until completely melted and smooth.
9. Cool sauce.
10. Blend sauce with cooked macaroni.
11. Place half of this mixture in the bottom of a casserole dish.
12. Spread ham in an even layer over macaroni and cheese.
13. Spread remaining macaroni and cheese over ham, covering completely.
14. Sprinkle with parsley and paprika.
15. Cover and bake at 350° F for approximately 40 minutes or until heated to an internal temperature of 150° F.

Recipe source: Sara Lee

Zesty Shrimps with Pasta – serves 2

Ingredients:
6 to 8 oz. medium sized shrimp.
Enough fettucini for two people
1/2 Tomato
A handful of diced onion
Mushrooms*
Pepper Strips (you can use fresh or frozen. If you use fresh, you want a yellow, red, and green)Olive Oil
Spaghetti Sauce
Cayanne Pepper*
Garlic Powder

* – optional, but recommended

Method:
1. Dice the veggies. Use quantities that you prefer, there isn't really a "good" amount. A handful and a half of mushrooms, a handful of onion, and a half of a tomato are my measurements. If you're using fresh peppers, go ahead and do those now. Wash those mushrooms, while you're at it.
2. Next we cut off the tails of the shrimp.
3. Also, lightly coat your largest pan/skillet with the olive oil, heat it over medium-high and toss in the shrimp. If you have uncooked shrimp, wait until it's opaque and orange here. Don't overcook them because they'll be in the pan a long time.
4. When your shrimp is cooked or near enough, DRAIN THE PAN, dump in some more olive oil, and toss in the tomato, onion, and mushrooms. Coat them with your desired spices, but do NOT put in more than a tiny bit of garlic. It really doesn't taste good in large quantities here. I load up on Cayanne, because I like that stuff.
5. Turn the heat up to medium/high, spread the oil and spices around a bit (don't do this for more than two or three minutes)
6. Now add in your peppers
7. Do the same thing to the peppers, too. You add these in later so they're not quite so cooked as the other veggies
8. Drain the pan after a minute or two, and move aside the vegetables and shrimp. Put a little bit more oil (yeah, I know) on the empty half and toss your FULLY COOKED fettucini in. If your fettucini is still cooking at this point, just drain the pan and set it aside, don't put it back on the burner and wait for the pasta to finish.
9. Spend a minute or so cooking the fettucini in the oil (stir it up a bit) before mixing it with the other stuff in the pan.
10. Now add in your sauce and mix that in. Don't cook any more, this is just to evenly distribute the sauce and warm it up.

Helpful hints:
1. The shrimp is pretty expensive, even that little. If you want to get something cheaper go ahead. Fresh, de-tailed shrimp is the my favorite to get, but frozen, pre-cooked tailed shrimp is the cheapest.
2. use store bought spaghetti sauce for this because you don't need a whole lot and really, it's just more expensive and more trouble than it's worth to make your own.
3. Fresh peppers are recommended, but hey, a buck for a pound and a half of frozen ones. Can't beat that.
4. For leftovers, don't microwave it because that makes it taste really bad. Just warm it on the oven.