[Punkie]

We make a lot of pasta dishes. I use this killer recipe for homemade bread sticks (you can easily whole-wheatify it, lol), and it makes for a great meal! I melt some Earth Balance and garlic (or even garlic salt, lol) and brush it on the bread sticks. Its perfect.

Some of our favorite pastas:

• Basic red sauce (I use the keep-it-simple-stupid recipe from Veganomicon)
  

  2 tsp olive oil
  4 cloves garlic, minced
  1 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
  1/4 tsp dried thyme
  1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  1/2 tsp salt
  several pinches of freshly ground black pepper
  
  Preheat a pan over medium-low heat. Saute the oil and garlic for about a minute, add everything else, cover, and simmer for about 15 minutes.

• Pesto! If you have basil, then its a great way to use it up. If not, the Frontier packet makes some good stuff.
  
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne (from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook)
  

  1 medium butternut squash
  1 1/2 c. diced onion
  3 cloves garlic, minced
  1/2 tsp. crushed red chili flakes
  3 Tbsp olive oil
  1 Tbsp lemon juice
  2 tsp salt
  
  1 pound penne pasta
  
  1/2 c. minced parsley
  1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
  Salt and pepper to tast.
  
  Preheat the oven to 375.
  Peel the butternut squash (a y-peeler works best). Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds and discard them. Dice the squash into 1-inch cubes. Place the squash in a bowl with onion, garlic, red chili flakes, olive oil, lemon juice, and the 2 tsp salt. Toss to mix well.
  
  Place this in a large roasting pan and roast for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Stir occasionally. The squash should be firm-tender, but not mushy.
  
  Cook the pasta, drain, then mix in the cooked squash mixture, parsley, cheese, salt and pepper.

• Fettuccine with Garlic Parsley and Parmesan (from the Whole Foods Market Cookbook)

  1 pound fettucine
  1/4 c. olive oil
  12 cloves garlic
  3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
  1 c. minced fresh parsley
  1 tsp lemon pepper
  
  Cook pasta. In a separate pan heat olive oil, add garlic and saute about 4 minutes - until light golden brown. Remove the garlic cloves and reserve. Add the drained pasta to the pan, and saute over medium heat for 2 minutes, until warmed through. Add the browned garlic, Parmesan, parsley, and lemon pepper. Toss well to combine.

• Peanut butter noodles (you can use any kind of noodles - not just soba) - http://www.veggiemealplans.com/archi...range-dressing or http://www.veggiemealplans.com/index...bles&Itemid=67
  

Baby needs me. I'll come back later