creamy vegan pumpkin pasta

I guess its always pumpkin season in Hawaii. There isn't very much of a climate change year round! So, even though its summer, and pumpkins are usually associated with cool fall weather, I was fortunate enough to be given a beautiful summer pumpkin, straight from the garden. Packed with vitamin A and potassium, pumpkins are never out of season. If you don't know how to cook a pumpkin, check out this post I did last "fall".  That was a huge pumpkin though! This one was much smaller and only took about 40-45 min to bake. If you are not going to make your own pumpkin puree, but use a can, I would suggest using less than 1 1/2 cups. The pumpkin puree in a can is usually more concentrated, and sweeter!

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1-2 cups green beans, trimmed and chopped in half
• 1 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup rice milk
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 oz. fettucine (whole wheat or gluten free, I used brown rice pasta) 
• 1 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley and basil)

Once you have your pumpkin baked, cooled, and pureed...its time to start dinner. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Put pasta water on to boil now too. Add chopped onions and garlic to hot oil and fry at medium heat until translucent and soft. Add green beans and toss for about 5-7 minutes. I don't like mushy green beans, so I hardly cook them, so they stay crunchy!

Add pasta to boiling water and cook as directed. Add pumpkin, nutritional yeast, rice milk, nutmeg, and salt and pepper to frying pan. Stir until well combined and heated all the way through. Drain pasta, return to pot, and toss with pumpkin sauce and fresh herbs. Yum!