Sauces for Sister

A few weeks ago my sister issued me a challenge... to come up with a non-tomato, non-cheese based sauce for pasta.  No prob.  These will be, dun dun dun, wait for it... vegetable puree based!  I know, you are shocked, right?  Well, really, that is what tomato sauce is, isn't it?  Tomato puree.  So it should be fun to try and find a different vegetable to use.   


These are my first three ideas.  They are not perfect yet, but I thought I'd share the journey of trying to find my sister the perfect sauce.  So,   

1st Pasta Sauce:  Carrot with Orange and Ginger

I got this from a soup recipe with the same flavors.  This is the link.

Ingredients:
1 cup carrot puree (thick - from 8 or 9 carrots, 1 cup water)
1 spoonful orange-pineapple juice concentrate
1/4 cup water
         (or 1/4 cup orange juice instead of the concentrate and water)
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground ginger  (or fresh if you've got it!)
1 tsp lemon juice (or lime)
sprinkle of salt

I cooked it all together on the stove, but of course, the microwave would work just as well. 

It's good.  It smells very ginger-y, but the taste isn't as strong as the smell.  I like it, but I think I'd use less ginger next time.  Maybe only 1/8 tsp.  Also, this barely serves two.  I'd make twice as much for my research team and I for dinner. 

Here is a picture:

Plus, can't you just hear Mom saying that ginger is sooooo good for you?   ;)

The Verdict:

The research team thinks it needs something else.  Maybe something spicy.  Paprika?  Chili pepper?  Chalula?  But he thinks everything needs to be spicier.  :)  

2nd Pasta Sauce:  Peppers and onions

What's with the orange sauces, I wonder?   Alright, this one is peppers and onions.   This one is sort of strange because peppers are one of those veggies that is so easy to eat, so it is sort of weird to puree them.  Although, not any different than carrots I guess!  So here we go:

Ingredients:
Bag O' Peppers and onions
Some olive oil (shoot, ummm, maybe a tablespoon.)
Sprinkle of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and paprika

This time I didn't use fresh peppers... sigh, I know, but no one is perfect right?  I used this whole bag:

 It says there are 4 cups of veggies, but I'd say it was just under.  I'm going to add more pictures of the process here, because I made this sauce differently than I normally do.   Plus, peppers are so pretty! 

I cooked the peppers/onions on the stove with the olive oil and spices until the onions turned clear.

Then I poured the whole thing into the blender, and blended it up.

It became just over one cup of sauce.

I put some ground beef in it, but I don't think the sauce HAS to have the meat.

It was pretty good.  The research team and I both liked ours with some cheese on top.  Believe it or not, it taste like peppers!

The Verdict:

The research team thought it was better than the carrot sauce, but thought a spicy pepper would be a good addition.  Green pepper, jalapeno, he didn't think it really mattered (but here we go again with the extra spice...)  So next time I am going to make this same recipe with one can of green peppers.  

3rd Pasta Sauce:  Cauliflower Pesto

Now, anyone who is a true pesto aficionado will not be pleased with me.  I called it a pesto only because the flavors are similar.  It does not have the fresh herbs, chopped by hand, or the toasted nuts, chopped by hand, or the fresh garlic... basically I used the same flavors, but mostly from dried herbs and I paid the price in flavor I'm sure.  Actually, feel free to use fresh, I would have if I would have planned this in advance! 

Ingredients:
2 cup cauliflower puree
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I used walnuts because I had some left over from the knock you naked brownies, but I think pesto usually has toasted pine nuts)
1/4 cup dried basil
1 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
sprinkle salt and pepper

Here is a picture of the sauce:

Pesto also usually has Parmesan or Romano cheese, but as my sister specified 'non-cheese based,' I left it out.  But if it only had a little cheese, would that be okay?  Because in truth, I think this would have been better with 1/4 cup shredded cheese.  So, after we tried it without...  we both sprinkled some cheese on top.  :)  But I like cheese, so what can I say.   

I learned two lessons here.  Number one:  It is not possible to substitute this much dried basil for fresh.  In the future I will plan ahead and buy fresh.  (Although, my research team thought it was just fine and said it tasted a lot like pesto.)  Lesson number two:  The addition of milk made the sauce much creamier, and is something I will continue to experiment with in my sauces and macaroni and cheese.

The Verdict:

This was the research team's favorite sauce so far.  And it didn't have ANY hot spicy-ness in it... what's that about?!  


In conclusion...

The only issue I see with all three of these sauces, is that they are all puree based.  Which means they are not the easiest dinner ideas for a busy student.  So I think your best option would be to buy a bunch of a vegetable when it is on sale, puree it and freeze it in reasonable amounts (assuming you have the freezer space?).   Then you will have it ready and dinner will be easy.   Or, do like I do.  Puree something at the beginning of the week, and keep it in the fridge and use it all week.

Well there you go, the beginning of an on going experiment to find the perfect sauce for my sissy.  More to come!