Zucchini Pasta with a Rainbow Veggie Pasta Sauce
Zucchini Pasta with a Rainbow Veggie Pasta Sauce
Cuisine: American
Cooking Method: Blender, Food Processor, Griddle
Food Allergies: Dairy Free, Egg Free, Gluten Free, Nut & Tree Nut Free, Soy Free
Special Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Food Type: Pasta
Share This Recipe
Description
The inspiration for this recipe was a rainbow pasta salad that I saw. I was inspired by the rainbow concept and wanted to do something healthy that included multicolored vegetables. Because I have type 1 diabetes, my mom encouraged me to think low carb. So I decided to use zucchini pasta instead of regular pasta noodles. The rainbow vegetables make up the sauce. The unique thing about my recipe is that it is vegan and uses lots of fresh herbs and vegetables to make a twist on traditional tomato
Inspiration: New Creation
Ingredients
- 6 large tomatoes on the vine
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 4 medium Carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1-2 small beets with stem and greens attached
- 3 tricolored sweet bell peppers (red, yellow, orange)
- 1 cup shitake mushrooms
- 1 cup fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup fresh parsley (1/4 cup if dried)
- 1/2 cup fresh basil (1/4 cup if dried)
- 1/2 cup fresh oregano (1/4 cup if dried)
- 1/4 cup fresh thyme (1/8 cup if dried)
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tsp salt (to taste)
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup olive oil divided,for sautéing vegetables
- 4-6 medium Zucchini
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Italian Herb Season Grinder for garnish
Instructions
1. Using ¼ cup olive oil, sauté onions in a skillet, stirring occasionally until caramelized. Then add 1 teaspoon salt.
2. In a large saucepan add quartered tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, 1 teaspoon salt. Cook on medium and mash tomatoes as they cook. Add bay leaf.
3. Cut carrots, celery, beets, bell peppers, mushrooms and spinach in large chunks. Reserve about 1/4 cup of each colored bell pepper and dice finely.
4. De-stem and chop herbs if using fresh herbs.
5. Add carrots, celery, garlic, beetroots, and bell peppers, to caramelized onions. Sauté until softened. Transfer all contents into the tomato pot and stir.
6. In same skillet, sauté mushrooms, chopped spinach, and chopped beet greens (including stems) from the beets (about 2 cups). Transfer into tomato pot.
7. Stir in fresh herbs and allow sauce to simmer until you get desired thickness.
8. Blend sauce using an immersion blender or carefully transfer to blender. Taste. Add additional salt if needed.
9. While sauce simmers, use a spiralizer or knife to prepare zucchini into long shreds resembling noodles.
10. Lightly sauté zucchini in olive oil over medium heat. Then add reserved bell peppers to pan, season with salt and garlic powder to taste. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with Italian herb blend.
11. Spoon sauce over noodles and garnish with grated parmesan cheese (optional).
About the Chef
Naima Winston
Age: 10 – MD
Why is healthy cooking important to you?
Healthy cooking is important to me because some people access to healthy food. Also, some people just don't like healthy foods. It is important to like healthy food because if you do not like and eat healthy foods on a regular basis you can develop health problems and your body will not feel good. We only get one body so it is important to take care of yourself. Because I have type one diabetes, I have to constantly consider my body and what I eat to stay healthy.
