A little out of season

I do my best to eat what’s in season which is a hell of lot easier when the Summer fruits are in abundance..who wouldn’t want to eat peaches and cherries for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

All year round I see American and Canadian Bloggers posting pumpkin recipes thanks to the abundance of canned pumpkin available…overnight oats, pancakes…I will admit I do get quite jealous. It isn’t easy to pick yourself up a pumpkin in Ireland outside of the Halloween season, unless of course you live anywhere in the vicinity of the Happy Pear or if you don’t fancy a drive you could also order yourself some online and have them delivered directly to your door!

Diced and roasted pumpkin is one of my all time favourite vegetables; skin and all! With a little extra slicing, skin removed and steamed or roasted, it’s easily blended to a smooth puree in mere seconds! A little thicker than the tinned puree but easily thinned out with a little almond milk depending on what you want to use it for.

Pumpkin puree at hand I went all out on the out of season cuisine and picked myself up some cooked and vacuum packed chestnuts; I spotted them and couldn’t resist! Sonia’s recipe for pumpkin chestnut pasta has been tried on more than one occasion and I could think of nothing better than a big bowl adapted slightly with hearty addition of shitake and oyster mushrooms.

It was every bit as incredible as I had been dreaming. Smooth, creamy, cheesy pumpkin sauce, enveloping spelt penne and incredible meaty mushrooms; I like my mushrooms to have a bit of substance, button mushrooms just don’t cut it in a dish like this.

Basil, chestnuts…ever so simple. Who knew something so creamy and luscious could be vegan! I was asked recently was I finding being vegan difficult..hell know! 7 months in I’m loving it more than ever. My body feels fantastic and the possibilities and food creations are limitless. It’s a little bit of a challenge but in the smallest sense possible; no more so than someone who eats a whole load of processed food and wants to introduce some fresh produce. I’ve embraced veganism whole heartedly and I intend to do so forevermore

How could you possibly wait for October to come around every year to enjoy such deliciousness! I’ve been loving pasta of late. I go through phases of protein and carb loving, at the moment it’s a mixture of both but one of the other tends to dominate in a given meal.

Plenty of fresh basil adds a fragrant fresh dimension to this dish. Super tasty, healthy, oh so comforting and totally irresistible!

Do you crave foods that aren’t in season? (Surely I can’t be the only one! I had planned on freezing cherries to get me through the Winter but I’ve eaten most of my loot! )

Creamy Pumpkin Chestnut Meaty Mushroom Pasta (adapted from The Healthy Foodie)

 Print this easy peasy recipe

Servings – 1

Preparation Time – 5 minutes

Cooking Time – 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 70g (2.5oz) wholegrain spelt penne
• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup shitake mushrooms
• 1/2 cup oyster mushrooms
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup (80ml) unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 50g cooked chestnuts crumbled
• 1 tbsp fresh basil (save a little for garnish)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Cover pasta with boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes.
2. Add pumpkin puree, milk, water and nutritional yeast to a pot, bring to the boil, cover and simmer while the pasta cooks.
3. Meanwhile sauté mushrooms in a pan with the olive oil for 5-7 minutes.
4. Season with salt and pepper before tossing in cooked pasta, mushrooms, 2/3 of the chestnuts and most of the basil.
5. Serve topped with remaining chestnuts and fresh basil sprinkled on top.

Tagged as: almond milk, basil, chesnuts, mushrooms, nutritional yeast, oyster mushrooms, pumpkin, pumpkin pasta, shitake mushrooms, spelt pasta, vegan