Pumpkin pasta {recipe} and the One Little Dove Birdcage veil winner

Another healthy, easy recipe for you (and another lovely winner)!

My mother has always advocated having color in her cooking.  She said that we should try to have colorful vegetables (tomatoes, colored peppers, carrots, etc.) since they usually contained useful vitamins and antioxidants.
Thus I have lots of green, orange, and red vegetables in my fridge and have to figure out how to cook them!  There is definitely a learning curve to being healthy!  Produce of course is more time consuming but a healthier lifestyle is worth the effort.

Pumpkin is full of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, Vitamins C and E, and fiber.  I wanted to use the few cups of freshly cooked pumpkin on my stove and was inspired by this Rachael Ray recipe.  I adapted this and made it healthier and even simpler.

Pumpkin sauce and pasta


Ingredients:
- Salt and pepper
- 1/2 pound whole-wheat penne or other pasta
- 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 medium onion, chopped
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 1 cup chicken stock or water
- 8 ounces (cup) of pumpkin - canned or freshly boiled/roasted
- 1/4 cup reduced fat milk
- 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce or dash of chili powder, to taste
- 3 to 4 leaves fresh sage {optional}
- freshly grated parmesan to taste

Directions:
1. Heat water for pasta, salt it and cook pasta to al dente.
2. Heat the oil over medium heat. Add shallots and garlic to the pan, saute 3 minutes.
3. Stir in chicken stock/water and combine with pumpkin, stir in milk then season sauce with hot sauce, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 5 to 6 minutes more to thicken. 
4. Mix everything together and top with sage and Parmesan.

 (I missed the last 3 ingredients but they would have been ideal! I love gemelli pasta)

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Finally, thank you all for entering the One Little Dove birdcage veil giveaway!  I wish I could give you all one of Melanie's lovely creations.  But this time, the winner is...

Miss JD aka Barrister Bride! 
 
Congrats and please e-mail me at cncliving @gmail.com with your mailing address info and veil color!  Please give me this info by May 20th.