Pasta mixed with sautéed summer vegetables and a raw vegan tomato sauce. The mix of cooked and raw elements creates a super fresh yet hearty pasta dish that is sure to delight.
It’s a wonderful time of year, summer vegetables are in full force at the farmer’s market; eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, corn, green beans, and so much more! This recipe was made to utilize all the veggies I had in my fridge, because not only do I have to use them up, it’s hard just choosing one!
Each veggie brings it’s own unique flavor and texture, plus they are infused with sausage like spices to bring warmth and depth to the veggies. I used the left over sun-dried tomato soak water to cook the veggies in, on medium low for about 10 minutes or until their mostly soft.
By the way, I didn’t use all of that eggplant and yellow zucchini, I used about a quarter of each, they were huge!
I added in the spices fennel, mustard seed, peppercorn, fenugreek, and a sprinkle of sea salt.I recommend buying your spices whole, to reduce oxidization and to preserve the spices flavor, then put them in a spice shaker so you can quickly sprinkle on any vegan dish where you want that hot Italian sausage flavor. Sometimes I’ll add in coriander, cumin, and cardamom as well; usually for the Indian dishes.
The raw vegan Italian tomato sauce is my favorite, it’s so simple to make, so fresh and so flavorful. All you do is blend together tomatoes, soaked sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, onion, hot pepper and herbs; basil, rosemary, and sage. You could also use parsley, oregano, marjoram or thyme; or add a little sweetness from a date or coconut sugar, there are many options.
All Raw Version
I thought about making this as a truly raw dish, especially for lunch and I probably will, once I get a spiralizer. I would spiralize a zucchini to replace the noodles, and omit the eggplant and mushrooms, unless I were to go the extra step and marinate and dehydrate them for an hour or two, in that case I would marinate and dehydrate all the veggies to make them softer. I’d make the tomato sauce like regular, and bam a flavorful raw vegan dish made in 10 minutes, well depending on your knife skills. 😉
Enjoy!
Summer Pasta Medley
INGREDIENTS
- 16 oz pasta
- Simmered Veggies
- 1 cup zucchini
- 1 cup eggplant
- 1 ear of corn
- 1/2 cup green beens
- 1/2 cup bell pepper
- 1 tiny red onion
- 1/4 cup mushrooms
- 1/8 cup red onion
- 1/2 tsp spices; fennel mustard seed, fenugreek, peppercorn
- 1/2 tsp dried herbs; sage rosemary
- pinch of salt
Sauce
- 1.5 cups tomatoes; roma
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes; soaked
- 1/8 cup onion
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/8 cup fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp jalapeño
- 1/2 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp sage
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 peppercorn
INSTRUCTIONS
Pasta
- Cook pasta according to package.
Simmered Veggies
- Peel the eggplant skin and cut veggies into bite-sized pieces.
- Use the sun-dried tomato soak water to simmer veggies in.
- Add in the spices.
- Simmer veggies on medium low for 10 minutes, or until soft.
Sauce
- Soak sun-dried tomatoes until soft, about 20-30 minutes.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth.
Assembly
- Add 1 cup of pasta, 1 cup of simmered veggies, and a little over a 1/2 cup of tomato sauce.
- Optional- drizzle on a bit of olive oil, or sprinkle a few fresh herbs to taste.
