Zucchini Raw ?Pasta? with Tomato and Red Bell Pepper Sauce

In a never-ending quest to incorporate more raw foods into my diet, and with my love of trying new things, I decided to go raw in the kitchen for dinner last night. I love (whole wheat) pasta, but unfortunately it’s not as appetizing uncooked. So I consulted with Google to learn about what ?raw foodists? eat when they’re craving some pasta. Zucchini! I’ve never really eaten zucchini except for when it’s been tossed into a vegetable stir-fry, but thought that I might as well try it seeing as so many people recommended it. I also made a tomato sauce to accompany my raw “pasta”. I must admit that I was skeptical of this whole experience, but was pleasantly surprised! The dish was quite filling, and was so full of fresh veggie flavour! I encourage all of you out there to continue trying new ideas for each of your meals; you’ll be amazed at the new tastes you discover.

Zucchini Raw “Pasta” with Tomato and Red Bell Pepper Sauce

(Recipe serves 2)

“Pasta” Ingredients:

3 small zucchini (or 1-2 large zucchini)

Method:

Cut the bottom end off of the zucchini, leaving the top end as something for you to hold on to.
Peel the skin off of the zucchini, leaving about 1 inch of skin at the top to hold while you make your “pasta”.
Once the skin is removed from the majority of the zucchini, continue to peel the vegetable into strips until you can’t peel anymore. Do this for each zucchini.
Place all of the strips in the bowl. Set aside.

Sauce Ingredients:

2 medium tomatoes, or 1/2 small carton grape/cherry tomatoes
1 red bell pepper
5-6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 of a jalapeño pepper, finely chopped (optional if you like extra spice!)
dash of ground coriander
dash of celery salt

Method:

Place all sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor.
Blend until smooth sauce is formed.

To serve:

Fill your bowl with zucchini “pasta”, pour the sauce on top, and garnish with some freshly chopped basil, and enjoy! If you don’t want to go 100% raw or vegetarian for this meal, you can even top your dish with some grated parmesan cheese.

 

Filed under: appetizers, dinners, Recipes, Weekly New Recipe Project Tagged: basil, culinary, dinner, healthy, pasta, raw, recipe, sauces, spice, spicy, vegetarian