Grilled Summer Vegetable Pasta

I can't believe that summer is almost over.  We've had beautiful weather in the Bay Area all summer long with temperatures hovering around 75-80 degrees with sunny skies.  There have only been about five days where the temps exceeded 90 degrees and today was one of those days.  So since it was hot today, I didn't want to want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and so this dish was quick and easy.  Also, this is a great dish if you want to use up end of season produce in your garden, especially zucchini and tomatoes. 

Ingredients:

(Serves 2)

1/2 lb whole wheat spaghetti, cooked, drained and rinsed

1 medium zucchini, chopped

1 medium yellow squash, chopped

1 medium green Italian squash, chopped

1 lb cherry tomatoes
2 cups organic baby spinach

2 tsp minced fresh thyme

2 tbsp minced garlic

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 cup vegetable stock

Juice of 1 lemon

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp minced fresh basil, plus more for garnish

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Note:  If you have an outdoor grill or grill pan you should slice your vegetables instead of chopping and then chop after grilling.  I don't have a grill and so I used my broiler and chopped the vegetables before roasting.  

Method:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a rapid boil and add whole wheat spaghetti and cook until al dente.  When finished rinse under cool water and set aside in a strainer.
• Pre-heat broiler to 450-500 degrees and toss the zucchini in 1 tsp thyme, a drizzle of olive oil, and salt and pepper and roast on a sheet tray for about 10 minutes until lightly charred.  
• Do the same with the cherry tomatoes.  You want the vegetables to char and blister, but you still want them to be crisp tender.  Remove from oven and set aside.
• In a large saute pan, add 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic and vegetable stock.  
• Reduce vegetable stock by half and then stir in nutritional yeast and cook for about a minute or so until yeast is dissolved and creamy.
• Add roasted vegetables, cooked pasta, spinach and toss ingredients together and heat through.
• Add chopped fresh basil, toss and season with salt and pepper to taste and fresh lemon juice.
• Garnish with additional basil leaves.