Mealtime Magic: Fall Pasta Recipes

It's very easy to go overboard on treats between Halloween and the new year, so it's good to have healthy options. I recently had a chance to try some pastas from Explore Cuisine. These pastas taste delicious, and they're vegan, gluten-free, non-GMO, and 100% organic. They have extra protein compared to other pastas, being made with lentils or black beans.

The black bean spaghetti is actually perfect for spooky Halloween recipes, since it's black, but it's fine for any time of year, and makes a fun, different look compared to traditional spaghetti.

Pumpkin Ricotta Mixture

Ingredients:

• ¼ c. fresh sage leaves, chopped, plus more whole leaves for garnish

• 2 t. butter

• 15 oz. ricotta

• 10 oz. canned pumpkin puree

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 1/2 t. salt

• 1/4 t. pepper

• ½ t. pumpkin pie spice

Method:

Fry sage in butter until crisp. Remove to paper towel. Then combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Béchamel Sauce aka White Sauce

Ingredients:

• 4 T. butter

• 4 T. gluten-free flour

• 2 ½ c. milk, warmed

• ¼ t. ground nutmeg

• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and whisk to cook the flour, about two minutes. Add the milk slowly and continue to stir. Bring to barely a boil then immediately turn down the heat. Cook, whisking until thickened for about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Ingredients:

• 1 box – 8 sheets Explore Cuisine Green Lentil Lasagne (no boil)

• 1 ¼ lb. mozzarella, shredded

Method:

1. Spread ½ c. of white sauce over the bottom of a greased 8" square (2 qt.) baking dish. Place 2 sheets of no-boil lasagne noodles over the sauce in a single layer.

2. Top lasagna noodles with a third of the ricotta mixture. Layer with a quarter of the mozzarella. Then top with a third of the remaining of the white sauce. Top sauce with 2 more sheets of lasagne noodles to build the second and third layers the same way.

3. For the top layer, place last two sheets of lasagna over the white sauce. Top with remaining mozzarella.

4. Bake at 375°F for 35 minutes, covered with foil. Uncover and bake an additional 15 minutes until the lasagna is bubbling hot and the top is browning. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with fried whole sage leaves.

Black Bean Spaghetti with AFRAID-O Sauce, White Carrot Phalanges

Recipe by Lori Hirsch Stokoe

White Carrot Phalanges

Peel 8 white carrots then carve with small knife into finger-bone shape. Steam until al dente. Set aside.

Black Bean Spaghetti with AFRAID-O Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 box Explore Cuisine Black Bean Spaghetti - cooked, drained

• 1 jar of alfredo sauce (can choose gluten-free)

• 1 jar of marinara sauce (choose one that is more blood red in color, rather than orange)

• fresh basil

Method:

1. Heat the sauces in separate saucepans over medium heat, stirring occasionally.

2. Place warm Explore Cuisine black bean spaghetti in the center of four serving plates.

3. Ladle alfredo sauce over the center of the spaghetti.

4. Arrange carrot phalanges over the sauce.

5. Splatter marinara sauce over the entire dish, in a gruesome manner.

6. Garnish with basil.

Garlicky Black Bean Spaghetti Spoons with Deviled Eyes

Recipe by Lori Hirsch Stokoe

Deviled Eyes

Ingredients:

• Hard Boiled Eggs

• Food Coloring

• Jumbo Black Olives

• Garlic Mayonnaise

• Unflavored Gelatin Glaze

Special Equipment:

• Two sharp thin tubes for cutting hard-boiled egg into (1) the size of an iris, and (2) into the size of a pupil.

• Fine paintbrush to paint food coloring.

• Pastry brush for brushing gelatin.

Method:

1. Use the larger tube to cut the top of the egg in a circle for the iris. Remove the egg white plug. Paint the egg white plug with diluted food coloring to look like an iris. Let dry. 

2. Use the smaller tube to cut out a place for the pupil in the painted iris. Use the same tube to cut a pupil out of the black olive. Place the olive pupil into the iris.

3. Cut off the bottom third of the egg so it will nestle in the spaghetti spoon. Reserve any hard-boiled egg yolks for spaghetti recipe.

4. Scoop out a small amount of the egg yolk from the top of the egg to make room for mayonnaise. Squirt garlic mayonnaise into the hollow top of the hard-boiled egg, and then replace the iris plug.

5. Paint food coloring bloodshot lines around the iris. Let dry.

6. Finish by brushing a light coat of slightly thickened gelatin glaze over the entire eye to give an authentic glossy finish.

Garlicky Black Bean Spaghetti Spoons

• 1 box Explore Cuisine Black Bean Spaghetti - cooked, drained

• 2 T. olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 T. fresh herbs, finely chopped  - such as tarragon, parsley, chives

• salt, to taste

• red chili flakes, to taste

• 1 T. cooked egg yolk, grated

1. In a medium bowl - combine olive oil with garlic, herbs, salt and chili flakes. Add spaghetti and toss. Sprinkle with grated egg yolk.

2. Arrange spaghetti in decorative serving spoons. Place deviled eyes in center.