Summer vacation means extra time to try cooking new dishes. This week’s experiment was no-mato sauce for spaghetti squash spaghetti. I love spaghetti, but tomatoes are not on the friend list. Just for good measure, I wanted to leave out garlic and onions, because they’re a little suspect at the moment. I can’t say much for how the squash itself turned out — I think I need more practice on that one — but the sauce is very tasty. Of course, this is coming from someone who hasn’t had spaghetti in 10 months. ;)
Just a word of caution, this recipe contains a beet. Beets stain everything — including hands and face (don’t ask). So, wear all black and don’t stir too vigorously.
Ingredients:
1 medium-size beet, peeled and diced
11 small-medium carrots, peeled and sliced (a little over 2 cups)
2 teaspoons ground oregano
2 teaspoons ground basil
1-2 cups water
Add the above in ingredients and simmer covered for 45-50 min in a small pan. Let cool. During the cooling process, most of the water will be absorbed by the vegetables. Add in 1 cup diced roasted sweet potatoes. (*Note: I almost always have roasted sweet potatoes on hand. I cook them with ginger, salt, and grapeseed oil. I thought it would taste good to add to the sauce — and it did — but it’s not necessary to add them. Just put in less seasoning in the next step if you choose to omit the sweet potato. I’ve also seen recommendations for adding canned pumpkin puree.) Blend in a food processor. I have a small processor, so I had to blend in two batches. For each batch, I added 2 Tablespoons water.
Pour blended sauce in a bowl and stir in the following:
3/4-1 cup water (broth might also taste good here, but the water has worked great)
3 teaspoons ground basil
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon salt
And that’s it! You should have about 3 cups of sauce. It will be thick, so it can be used for pizza or baked pasta dishes as well.
More or less seasoning can be added according to taste. If a more oregano taste is desired, you could add some more here as well. The dominant spice in this recipe is basil.
Let the sauce sit overnight to let all the flavors blend together. (If you tasted it at this point, you probably noticed a dominant carrot flavor.)
Tip: Add cooked ground beef before heating to serve.
thoughts and songs 