Meat Free Monday is a campaign suggesting that everyone should give up meat for just one day of the week. If you could just give up meat for one day of the week it would be a benefit to you and the planet. Eating meat all the time isn’t good for you, so having a meat free day would be good for your health and would consequently help the planet, by not as many animals needing to be killed for meat.
Eating meat free meals is easy to do as there are so many different meals you can make. Last week we discussed how you could make stuffed vegetables as a meat free meal, out of various vegetables such as mushrooms, peppers and tomatoes. This can be a very tasty and filling meal, which is also very healthy for you and can count as your vegetable intake for the day. You can put various fillings into vegetables such as other chopped up vegetables or a vegetable mix topped with breadcrumbs and cheese.
Pasta Dishes
This week we are going to show you all the different meals you can make out of pasta. Pasta is a popular type of food, which is very tasty and filling. Pasta originates from Italy and today is popular in many different countries. Pasta is popular in many restaurants and can range from a simple Spaghetti Bolognese to a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni. The dishes that you can make with pasta are endless. Pasta dishes are easy to make, all you have to do is prepare a sauce then boil some pasta for, on average, approximately 10 minutes and then once cooked you can put the sauce and the pasta together to create your meal. Pasta meals can be homemade or you can buy a ready made sauce and the pasta separately to cook at home. You can also buy ready meals which you can easily microwave or cook in the oven.
Vegetable Lasagne
A vegetable lasagne is very easy to make and can be different every time it is made. A vegetable lasagne can differ by which vegetables you use. The decision is completely up to you with what vegetables you would like to use for your vegetable lasagne. You can choose something simple such as mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and peppers or go for something like a ratatouille sauce, with aubergines and courgettes, to put into your lasagne. Lasagne is easy to make by using fresh pasta sheets; you have a large dish where you layer the pasta sheets and add the prepared sauce between every sheet. You can top the lasagne with a béchamel sauce and some parmesan cheese, then pop it in the oven to cook.
Minestrone Soup
Pasta can also be added to meals such as soup and the traditional minestrone soup has pasta as a main ingredient. This makes it a more tasty and filling dish. Minestrone soup is very good for you and can be packed with many different vegetables all of which are good for you and can be counted towards your vegetable intake for the day. Minestrone soup is generally full of the vegetables that are in season for the time of year that you are eating it. Minestrone soup can be homemade or bought in the supermarket as fresh soup or as canned soup.
Vegetable Pasta Bake
Like a vegetable lasagne, a vegetable pasta bake is also easy to make and can be different every time that you make this dish, depending on what vegetables you use. You can make a pasta bake with a simple tomato sauce with mushrooms and onions, or you can make a sauce up which can be packed with lots of different vegetables. You can make this dish nice and colourful by using different coloured peppers, aubergines and courgettes. Once you have prepared your desired sauce, cook some pasta then add the pasta and the sauce to an ovenproof dish where you can then top it with mozzarella cheese and cook it in the oven to finish it off.
Pasta Salad
Pasta is something that can be eaten either cold or hot. The pasta must always be cooked beforehand though. If you make a pasta dish and there is some leftover, you can always reheat it the next day or just simply eat it cold. If you cook up some pasta on its own you can let it cool and add it to salad to make a nice pasta salad, along with some tomatoes, feta cheese and some fresh basil leaves.
Pasta with Pesto
Pasta with pesto is a very easy dish to make and is also very tasty. Simply cook the pasta you wish to use, whether it be tagliatelle or penne pasta. Once the pasta has been cooked, drain the pasta, put it in a pasta bowl then mix it together with some pesto. Add some fresh basil leaves to finish off this dish nicely and enjoy.
Mushroom Tagliatelle
A mushroom pasta dish can be very easy to make. You can simply cook the mushrooms in a bit of butter and then serve them with some tagliatelle, or you can make a nice sauce with a variety of mushrooms. A cream sauce suits the taste of the mushrooms. You can make a simple sauce up by cooking some mushrooms and onions, add some double cream with some parmesan cheese to thicken the sauce then serve on a nice bed of pasta.
Spinach Lasagne
Spinach is a very good vegetable for you. It is a good sauce of iron as well as calcium. A spinach lasagne can be made by using spinach and ricotta as they compliment each other very well. Simply layer fresh lasagne sheets into an ovenproof dish and put the spinach and ricotta mix between each sheet. Top the lasagne with some béchamel sauce and some parmesan, then cook it in the oven.
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Spinach and ricotta go very well together, with the creaminess of the cheese, combined with the flavour of the spinach. Spinach and ricotta are a popular combination in many pasta dishes, whether it be a spinach and ricotta cannelloni as shown above, spinach and ricotta tortellini or spinach and ricotta ravioli. These dishes are also nice with a tomato and mascarpone sauce as well as just a plain tomato sauce, which is what a spinach and ricotta cannelloni is usually served with.
Garlic Bread
Garlic bread is the perfect side dish to any Italian meal, especially a pasta dish. The flavours of the garlic bread accompany an Italian pasta dish very well. Garlic bread can come in many different ways, you can by a garlic bread baguette, such as the picture above, where you cook in for about 10 minutes and then slice it up to serve. You can buy garlic bread slices, which give slightly larger pieces of garlic bread. With garlic bread slices you can add cheese to them, the cheese will melt nicely onto the garlic bread when cooked in the oven. Then there are flatbreads, these come in various different flavours in many different supermarkets. You can buy a garlic flavoured one, sun dried tomato flavour or there is a rosemary and thyme flavoured one that you can also buy. Flatbreads are good to have as you can add ingredients to them to make them a bit different. You can add things like cheese, mushrooms and pesto, this would make a very nice starter to have before you eat your pasta dish.
We hope that these pasta dishes give you some ideas for Meat Free Monday. If you choose to regularly eat one of these pasta meals just once a week, you will be contributing to the Meat Free Monday campaign by helping the planet and also yourself, by eating healthy food.
