Smoked Gouda and Butternut Pasta

Sweet, roasted butternut squash coat this warm and comforting pasta while garlic and smoked gouda add a bit of richness. With so few ingredients, the stars of this dish really shine. Simple and bursting with flavor yet incredibly easy and hands off; great for a weeknight dinner. I love that this pasta is sophisticated enough for a proper dinner with company, but casual enough for a Monday meal after work. It’s one of my very favorite meals. *If smoked gouda isn’t your thing, any 4 oz of cheese will do.

Wow, it's been awhile! Summer is always a busy time: visiting with friends, doing work around the house and yard, playing with our wee man, and in general spending as much time as possible outside enjoying our gorgeous summer in Alaska. 

Now that the leaves have started to fall and the air is bitingly crisp, I feel excited to spend more time here on the blog as winter starts to slink in. I couldn't think of a better way to kick off the fall season than with a recipe I've been meaning to share for a long time.

One of my BFFs makes a butternut squash pasta with just those two ingredients and a splash of olive oil... it's to die for! I knew smoked gouda and roasted garlic would really marry beautifully with the sweet squash so I just had to experiment. This recipe will not let you down. Normally I don't cook with oil (due to Todd's rheumatoid arthritis), but don't skimp on the one tablespoon. There's no sauce in this dish, so you really need that little bit of olive oil to coat the squash and pasta. Happy cooking!

Smoked Gouda and Butternut Pasta

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

Sweet, roasted butternut squash coat this warm and comforting pasta while garlic and smoked gouda add a bit of richness. With so few ingredients, the stars of this dish really shine. Simple and bursting with flavor yet incredibly easy and hands off; great for a weeknight dinner. I love that this pasta is sophisticated enough for a proper dinner with company, but casual enough for a Monday meal after work. It’s one of my very favorite meals.

Ingredients

• 1 medium butternut squash, peeled and deseeded and cut into ¾” cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 large garlic cloves, left in their peel
• 12 oz dry spaghetti
• ½ of one 8 oz. package of Miyoko's Creamery Smoked VeganMozz or vegan cheese of choice, shredded
• 1-2 tsp Johnny’s Seasoning Salt or regular table salt
• 2 tsp fresh lemon thyme, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Add the cubed squash to a large casserole dish and toss with oil. Roast for 45-60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes until the squash is fork tender. When there’s 20 minutes left, toss in the garlic then bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta.
2. Cook the pasta according to package, drain and return to pot. Peel the roasted garlic and smash it into a puree with a spoon in a small bowl. Stir the garlic, cheese, salt, and roasted squash into the pasta.
3. Serve hot and topped with fresh lemon thyme and fresh cracked black pepper.
   

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 00:50
Total time: 00:60
Yield: 4 servings

Cashew Cream Tomato Penne Pasta

This is a super quick and easy weeknight dinner that is so healthy and satisfying. It’s creamy and rich thanks to the nutritious cashew sauce yet tart and sweet. Cherry tomatoes burst in the oven alongside roasted garlic and mingle with fresh basil and miso for a sumptuous sauce that smothers hot, penne pasta.

Apparently I'm on a pasta kick?? #sorrynotsorry

This is life with a one year old... as a full-time working mom... who as of a couple of weeks ago was still pumping five times a day. Whew! Dinner must be quick and it must be easy. Quick enough that I'm not on my poor, tired feet for too long and easy enough to give that stay-at-home poppa a much needed break, while I can still keep my eye on said one year old. For some reason pasta seems to be just the ticket. Dinner has to be delicious and it better be filling: this family needs their energy.

Speaking of energy, Oliver's got a ton of it. We're loving getting outside every weekend for nordic skiing (praise be to the snow gods), where we pull the little one in the Chariot behind us. I'm thrilled that it's now light until about eight o'clock and we can get out after work for a family hike on the trails through the woods behind our house or go sledding down our ungodly long driveway (I knew it would show it's virtues eventually). 

How are you spending our weekends? Do you have tips for outdoorsing with littles? 

Cashew Cream Tomato Penne Pasta

Recipe by Kathleen @ Produce On Parade

This is a super quick and easy weeknight dinner that is so healthy and satisfying. It’s creamy and rich thanks to the nutritious cashew sauce yet tart and sweet. Cherry tomatoes burst in the oven alongside roasted garlic and mingle with fresh basil and miso for a sumptuous sauce that smothers hot, penne pasta.

Yield: 6

Ingredients

• 1 10 oz container of fresh cherry tomatoes, yellow or red (I used yellow)
• 3 whole garlic cloves
• 1 lb penne pasta (we use whole wheat)
• 1 cup reserved pasta water
• 1 cup raw cashews
• ¼ cup fresh basil
• 2 tbsp miso (we use red)
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper, to taste

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450° F and arrange the cherry tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet along with the garlic cloves, still in their skin. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes burst and the garlic is roasted. Once cooled, remove the skin from the garlic.
2. While the cherry roast, bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta and cook according to package. Reserve about 1 ½ cups of the water, then drain and return to the pot.
3. Add the garlic and tomatoes to a blender along with the remaining ingredients except of course the pasta. Blend on high until smooth and creamy. Stir well into drained pasta, adding additional water as needed to thin the sauce to your liking.
4. Serve hot and topped with vegan parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes, if you like. If reheating leftovers stir a little water in for a creamier sauce.

Simple Vegan Lasagna with Beyond Burger & Miyoko's Mozzarella

The vegan lasagna to rule them all. It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s incredibly easy. Best of all this lasagna is rich with the tastiest vegan hamburger and the creamiest vegan mozzarella. It really is amazing. 

You know that dinner that you're always making, and everyone is always asking for the recipe but since you make it all the time you never write down what you throw into it? Well, this is one of those recipes... and it might just be the best one ever. 

Vegan lasagna and not a veggie in sight. If you want a veggie loaded lasagna, you can find one in my cookbook. This beauty, however, is classic lasagna at it's finest. The best vegan meat and cheese has to offer: The Beyond Burger and Miyoko's Fresh VeganMozz. Now, I know what you're thinking; those are both pretty expensive. Maybe, but we only use one burger patty and about one quarter to one half of the ball of mozzarella. You can't afford not to make this! 

I hope you enjoy this one as much as we do. Perhaps the greatest part is that you'll find minimal cleanup is needed and that this recipe is so incredibly simple. The perfect lasagna for those that who are new to cooking or new to veganism! 

Simple Vegan Lasagna with Beyond Burger & Miyoko's Mozzarella

By Katie Henry - Produce On Parade

The vegan lasagna to rule them all. It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s incredibly easy. Best of all this lasagna is rich with the tastiest vegan hamburger and the creamiest vegan mozzarella. It really is amazing. *Suggestions to make this even meatier, creamier, and more below.

Ingredients

• 14 oz firm tofu, drained
• ¾ cup unsweetened, plain soy milk or vegan milk of choice
• ¼ cup large-flake nutritional yeast
• ½ tbsp miso paste (I use red)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp dried basil
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• 1 Beyond Meat Beyond Burger patty, defrosted if frozen
• 1 15 oz can of tomato sauce (or additional pasta sauce)
• 12 pieces of no-boil lasagna noodles (make sure they don’t contain eggs!)
• 1 24 oz jar of pasta sauce
• ¼-½ of one 8 oz ball of Miyoko’s Creamery Fresh VeganMozz (or ½ cup vegan cheese of choice)
• Sprinkle of Italian seasoning and vegan parmesan, optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F. In a medium mixing bowl, mash together the tofu through the oregano until the tofu resembles a ricotta appearance. Crumble up or mash the raw burger patty and stir it (as well as it’s juices) into the tofu mixture until well combined. Set aside.
2. Evenly spread half the can of tomato sauce in a 9x13 inch baking pan. Arrange three of the noodles on top of the sauce ensuring they don’t overlap.
3. Evenly spread ⅓ of the cheese mixture over the noodles and cover with ⅓ of the pasta sauce. Continue this again, this time pinching off half of the cheese you’ll use and spreading it evenly over the tofu mixture.
4. Continue with another layer, but without the cheese. Finish with a layer of noodles covered with the remaining half of the tomato sauce. Top with remainder of cheese and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
5. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with a nonstick cooking spray and cover lasagna. Bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing. Serve hot and topped with vegan parmesan if you like.
6. * Beyond Meat and Miyoko’s can be prohibitively expensive, however, if that’s not an issue for you you can make it meatier, by using two burger patties! To make it creamier, use as much cheese as your heart desires. You can use boiled, regular lasagna noodles in place of the no-boil ones but decrease the milk to ½ cup.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 00:40
Total time: 01:00
Yield: 6 servings

Save Money!

I buy my nutritional yeast here. It’s only $9.55 per lb versus $13.99 per lb in the bulk bin (!) at our local grocery store!

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More “Lasagna-y” Recipes

Easy Mushroom Spaghetti

Vegan Lasagna Soup

Pizza Quinoa sith Summer Squash

Italian Summer Tomato Pasta

Looking for photos of Oliver or the pups? Head on over to my private Instagram account @katiecski to bask in the adorableness. Looking for book reviews? Go to my bookish Instagram account @dirtylittlebookworm to find out more.