Broccoli, Carrot & Walnut Pasta with Ricotta

I've often been critical of 30 minute meal cooking shows (I don't need instructions to make a meatball sub), but I think there is a lot of value in inspiring people to create delicious, nutritious meals in 30 minutes (and to Rachel Ray's credit, I was really impressed her with appearances on other cooking shows). So this is my grand attempt to challenge the 30 minute meal. What follows is a recipe you can start and finish faster than an episode of Jeopardy (I timed myself, and that included some prep work like washing and chopping), and you probably already have most of the ingredients around the kitchen. You can sub in other veggies (rocket instead of broccoli, red pepper instead of carrot), change the nuts, etc - the beauty of this is how simple it is. This recipe should make 4 decent meals, so you can make it easily one night and have lunches the next few days.

Ingredients:

- spaghetti (or other pasta)

- 2 cups broccoli, chopped into bite size pieces

- 1 carrot, chopped

- 1 lemon (or lemon juice)

- 3 tablespoons olive oil

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 shallot, diced

- ricotta cheese

- optional: parsley or other herbs

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to cooking directions.

2. While pasta is cooking, quickly toast nuts in toaster until browned.

3. To make pasta "sauce", heat olive oil in a fry pan. Add shallots and cook until aromatic, then add garlic and finish cooking. Set aside in large serving bowl.

4. Strain pasta and set aside. Heat water in pot again and add broccoli and carrots - cook until softened.

5. Add all ingredients to large serving bowl with pasta. Squeeze in desired lemon juice and add ricotta and mix. Add salt and pepper to finish (but be forewarned, the ricotta is already salty).

6. This recipe is nice when finished with fresh parsley or you can experiment with other herbs.

I paired this with a 2007 Viognier from Smoking Loon (California). Viognier is a more robust white grape, renowned for it's floral aromas. I chose this wine because it is strong enough to stand up to the vegetable and ricotta flavours in the dish, and because it's oak-aging should compliment the toasted nuts. Had this also not been one of my favourite white wines, I would be pleasantly surprised by the pit fruit aromas that follow through on the palette along with the perfume aroma, with a spicy finish. An oak-aged Chardonnay would also be a good pairing with this dish (my current favourite being Sandhill, from the trailblazing B.C. winery).