cold curry and pasta salad

I've been going to the sunset valley farmers market recently, and I bought another pesto from sgt peppers - red curry, which is mainly roasted red peppers and curry powder, with some sunflower seeds (in place of the pine nuts) and some parm.

TO prep for this recipe, I've already cooked up some chickpeas and have them stored in the fridge in their cooking broth, canned in fine too, you'll need about a cup of chickpeas for this recipe.

For the pasta, I like bowties (farfalle) or cavatappi, but gemelli would work well too.

Get a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta and a large saucepan for the curry sauce. Add a little oil to the pan, preferably peanut or olive. Finely chop a small onion and saute. Dice 3-4 medium roma tomatoes and set aside. Finely dice (like 1/4" cubes) a zucchini and a summer squash and add to the pan with the onions. Add the tomatoes to the pan when the onions begin to look translucent and reduce heat to medium. Season liberally with curry powder and a littel salt and pepper. Add 1 C cooked chickpeas with some liquid and reduce heat to medium low. Let simmer while you cook the pasta (probably 8-10 minutes). Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl or tupperware container.

Add 2-4 tbsp of the pesto to the pan, reduce heat to low and gently mix until the pesto and curry mixture are combined. Pour over the drained pasta and mix. Serve chilled or hot, depending on the season.

4/6/09: yesterday, a day late: farfalle with vegetable sauce

A good protein heavy meal, lots of vegetables and flavor.

Step one: get the water going for your pasta - an 8 quart pot, about half full (low water usage!) and cover on high.

Cut up 1-2 medium onions and grate 1 large carrot or two medium ones. Saute in a pan on medium until translucent. Crush 1-4 garlic cloves into the sauce, and cut up 1-2 zucchinis (sliced thin into circles) and add to the pan. If you have any, add about 1/2 cup red wine to the pan at this step. If things are sticking, add a little olive oil (I do this in non-stick pans) and allow everything to cook down a bit. Add a few leaves of fresh thyme and fresh chopped basil (or dried, your preference). Open a can of tomato puree or crushed tomatoes and add to the pan with vegetables (24 ounce can sounds right). Add about half a cup of tvp/tsp, (textured soy protein, available at most food coops and health type stores) and mix in well. Add sea salt or regular salt, to taste, also some freshly ground black pepper. Let simmer on low, covered.

Your water should be about ready to boil now, so add the farfalle to the pot and stir occasionally. Farfalle takes 10-13 mins. Once the pasta is done, add a cup or so of the water (which should be yellow-tinted) to the pasta sauce, stir well and uncover to let the sauce thicken slightly. Drain the pasta. Grate a little parmesan or mozzarella, cover about a cup of pasta with 1/2 to 3/4 cup sauce and garnish with cheese.