JWCR Crop Dinner

This weekend was the Junior Woman's Club Scrapbooking Crop. I used a recipe from Kraft Recipes, but it kinda sucked, so I added a bunch of stuff to it and it came out pretty good.

Creamy Pasta

Prep Time:	30 minutes
Ready in:	35 minutes
Yield:	2 servings, 1 1/2 cups each
Ease of Prep:	Easy

Recipe Ingredients
	3/4 cup vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth (see Tips for Two)
	4 large cloves garlic , peeled
	4 ounces whole-wheat fettuccine
	1 small zucchini , cut into matchsticks
	2 teaspoons cornstarch , mixed with 1 tablespoon water
	2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
	Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
	1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper , or to taste
	3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese , divided
	1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Recipe Directions

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Combine broth and garlic cloves in a small saucepan; bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the garlic cloves are soft, about 15 minutes.
2. After the garlic has simmered about 10 minutes, cook fettuccine in the boiling water, stirring often, for 8 minutes. Drop in zucchini (I also added 2 peppers, cut the same way) and cook until the fettuccine is just tender, about 1 minute more.
3. Meanwhile, transfer the garlic and broth to a blender. Process until the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. (Use caution when blending hot liquids; see Tip, page 244.) Return the mixture to the pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch mixture; whisk it until slightly thickened, about 15 seconds (I tried doing this, but adding a tiny amount of water to cornstarch just created a big lump that won't dissolve. Instead, I sprinkled little bits at a time and stirred it in). Remove from the heat and whisk in sour cream, nutmeg and pepper (Once I did this, I tasted the sauce and it just tasted like cream. I added salt and pepper, parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, a bunch of grated Parmesan cheese and some Mrs. dash's Italian seasoning... much better). Return the pot to very low heat to keep the sauce warm. (Do not boil.)
4. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Add the sauce and 1/2 cup Parmesan; toss to coat well. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately, passing the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan separately.

Health Advantages: high fiber, low cholesterol, high calcium.