Recipes: Passionate Pastas for Autumn

Yes it's Autumn, but in many places there are still garden vegetables from summer left for our enjoyment.  Our hearty root vegetables just came out of the ground, joining the bunches of kale and herbs that remain.  Speaking of bunches, here's a bunch of end-of-summer vegetable recipes for you to try.

Dr. Norris Chumley's Autumn Vegetable Pasta Toss

Serves 4.

1 box whole-wheat pasta as you like: spaghetti, elbow, rigatoni, et al
1 small bunch of kale (about 10 big leaves) washed, deveined, and torn into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion
1 small autumn squash: patty pan, butternut, or acorn
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 cube vegetable bouillon
a few sprigs of fresh oregano: just the leaves (or dried)
juice of ½ lemon
sprinkles of Parmesan cheese

Boil water, and then cook the pasta according to directions on the box.  While the pasta is cooking, in a medium or large saucepan, place the bouillon in ½ cup water with the prepared kale leaves.  Cover and steam for about 10 minutes, until the kale is soft, but not overcooked.

In a skillet, place the olive oil and the onions,  lightly sauté the squash over low heat, covered, for about 5 minutes until the squash is lightly cooked and browned. Save all the sauces you have used for cooking, as they are delicious and contain many nutrients.

Serve the hot vegetables over the pasta, adding some fresh (or dried) oregano leaves, a squeeze or two of lemon and some sprinkles of Parmesan cheese.

Here are five more end-of-the-summer vegetable pasta recipes from the New York Times.