Recipe from October 8, 2016: Simple Carrot-Beet Marinara Sauce

Want red sauce but can’t eat tomatoes? Or, just want something different with your pasta? A simple base of carrots and a beet is just the ticket, all the better if freshly picked and purchased from your local farmer.  I based the cooking demo on one of my favorite recipes from macrobiotic standby  The Self-Healing Cookbook, by Kristina Turner, originally published in 1987.  You can access the beet-stained page 166 of my copy that has the Marinara Spaghetti Sauce recipe on it as a pdf by clicking HERE or HERE to access it as a jpg.

At the market, I made a very simple version of this sauce, using just the ingredients in the picture, sans the parsley. I had the parsley all chopped and ready to go, but I forgot to add it! Bottom line is that the sauce was quite satisfying with just the carrots from Kelly’s Farm, the beet and garlic from Flats Mentor Farm, and the celery and onion from Farmer Dave’s.  We were lucky to be able to get some wonderful fusilli pasta from Deano’s Pasta to cook up  and use for the demo servings. Give this recipe a try, whether as written in the cookbook, as done at the market demo, or your own variation; I bet you will like it. Also, I also highly recommend The Self-Healing Cookbook, by Kristina Turner; it is a wonderful source of simple, healthy recipes based on a sane view of the world. In fact, is the most guilt-free “health food” cookbook I have ever had the pleasure to read and own.

Carrot-Beet Marinara Sauce

Cook in water almost to cover until soft:

  • 6 medium  carrots
  • 1 small beet
  • 1 large onion
  • 1 stalk celery

(Note: No need to peel the carrots or beet!)   Process until still just a bit lumpy in a food processor or blender or just mash thoroughly.

Sauté in olive oil:

  • 3-4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 onion, chopped fine

Add carrot-beet mix to sauteed onion and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes or until flavors meld.  Serve over your pasta of choice.  Note: you can add any fresh or dried herbs to saute with the onion and garlic, and further season with salt and/or pepper, as desired. But, this was pretty darn tasty as is!

Done!

Recipe by Wendy Dennis, also author of CulinaryQ.