Thursday, February 3, 2011

Pumpkin-Herb Pasta Salad

Pumpkin-Herb Pasta Salad

Sometimes I think it's pointless for me to own recipe books because I never use them.  This  dish was modeled after something I ate while on vacation recently at an absolutely delightful neo-hippie/Middle-Eastern restaurant in Queenstown, New Zealand.  Yes, I know.  But the food was delicious.

Total cost, probably about $6 and I only had to buy the zucchini today.

Ingredients
~5C cubed pumpkin/squash
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and then sliced
3 green onions, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic
Small pasta of some sort, about 1C uncooked
Fresh herbs - I used rosemary, thyme, and oregano (left over from last weekend's soup)
Olive oil & white-wine vinegar
Salt and fresh-ground pepper
  • Preheat the oven to 350F
  • Toss the chopped pumpkin in olive oil then put in large baking pan with peeled garlic cloves (pan large enough so that squash is in a single layer)
  • Bake until soft, about 45 mins but check frequently with whatever gourd you're using
  • While that is baking, cook your pasta al dente, rinse with cold water, and set aside
  • Lightly saute the zucchini - you're purposefully undercooking it so that it will still have some substance when it's in the finished pasta salad
  • Chop the green onion and herbs
  • Once your pumpkin is done and cooled, take out the garlic cloves (all carmelized/roasted - delicious), chop finely, and add to a large bowl
  • Combine pumpkin, pasta, zucchini, herbs, and green onions with the garlic.  Add more olive oil and the white-wine vinegar to taste.  Also add salt and pepper to taste - don't be afraid to add more salt!  :)
  • Serves 3 hungry people or 4 as a lunch side dish
This is really tasty - I had a hard time not eating it tonight (it is for lunches for the next few days).  The photo does not do it justice.  The only really labor-intensive part is chopping the pumpkin, especially if it has a harder shell.

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