PENNE PASTA AND VEGGIES WITH CREAMY TOMATO SAUCE
Recipe by Ellen Fisher
This recipe is vegan
Serves 3-4
Ingredients:
2 16-oz bags of brown rice penne pasta
1 head of broccoli, chopped
1/4 an onion, minced
6-7 mushrooms, diced
1/2 a red or orange bell pepper, diced
a few large handfuls of arugula
2 tomatoes, diced
nutritional yeast to taste
For the tomato sauce
1 large yam or sweet potato (about 2-3 cups diced)
6 cups of diced fresh tomatoes
6 large Medjool dates
large handful of fresh basil
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 tsp each of oregano, garlic powder and black pepper
Directions:
Boil the yam/sweet potato in a small pot on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until fork tender.
Meanwhile sauté the broccoli, onion, mushrooms and bell pepper in a large pan on medium heat with a little water. No oil is needed to cook veggies. Just add a couple tablespoons of water at a time as needed to make sure the veggies don’t stick to the pan.
Cook the penne pasta according to package instructions. Meanwhile, make the creamy tomato sauce. Blend the tomatoes and dates until smooth. Once the yam is done cooking, drain in a strainer. Scoop most of the diced yam/sweet potato into the blender, but save a little on the side. Blend the tomato sauce some more with the yam, basil and dried spices until combined, but do not over blend or the spices will become bitter. Add a sprinkle of sea salt if desired.
Turn the pan with veggies cooking down to low heat and pour in the creamy tomato sauce to mix in with the veggies. Stir lightly and as it heats up and give the sauce a taste to see if you’d like to sprinkle in some more herbs.
Once the pasta is cooked, drained and rinsed well, pour it into the large pan with the tomato sauce, veggies and the rest of the boiled yam, and mix well for a few minutes to rewarm up the pasta. Scoop into serving bowls and top with fresh arugula and more diced tomato. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast if desired for a vegan “cheesy” topping and enjoy!