Zucchini Spaghetti with a Creamy Tomato Sauce

“Our bodies are our gardens, to the which our
wills are gardeners”

-William Shakespeare

Hello friends,

It’s been awhile and I hope everyone has been enjoying the summer months! The weather has been unreal so I’ve been taking a break from my blog and trying to soak up every second I possibly can with friends in the sun 🙂

However, I couldn’t resist spending a bit of time in the kitchen experimenting with zucchinis. I’ve been making tons of creations with this summer squash because of how plentiful and gorgeous this delectable vegetable is at this time of year.

The farmers market near my house had some massive beauties so I decided to make heaps of zucchini noodles and experiment with different vegan sauces.

To make zucchini noodles, just take a couple zucchinis and use a vegetable peeler or preferably a mandolin. Cut off both ends and start to julienne your zucchinis 🙂 The idea to to slice long thin strips of zucchini so that the look is similar to spaghetti noodles (“zoodles” hehe).

Then to prepare the noodles- grind some some pepper on top of the noodles and just sauté them in a small bit of water on the stovetop until they are slightly limp but still crunchy (about 6 mins).

Now for the sauce. I have discovered a fun vegan secret and I am very pleased about this discovery. I have been trying to make creamy sauces for the last little while and I am tired of always having to use a cup of raw cashews for every recipe- while I agree that cashews make sauces creamy, I want a lower fat alternative. BEANSSSSS!!!!!!! White beans make sauces creamy and thick when blended with other ingredients and I love it! I still think you can add some cashews (or use homemade raw cashew milk for the plant milk requirement) if you want extra creaminess-but it’s not necessary and I didn’t for my recipe and it tastes great!

Ingredients:

• 2 green or yellow zucchinis julienned and lightly sautéed
• 1 can of any white beans (white kidney beans/cannellini), drained and rinsed
• 2 cups of crushed tomatoes (I use the Pomi brand which comes in a cardboard carton)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 1 hot pepper, seeded
• 8 leaves of fresh basil (and a bit more for garnish)
• 10 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup plant milk, and a bit more depending on how thick you like the sauce (preferably homemade to make it extra creamy 🙂 I used homemade pumpkin seed milk)
• 1/4 cup of raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours (optional)
• hot pepper sauce and chilli flakes (add as much as suits you, I’m obsessed with food being extremely spicy, so I always add a lot)

Instructions:

1. Sauté onions and garlic in a little bit of water on the stovetop for about 5-7 mins.
2. Add the sautéed garlic and onions into a blender with the basil, hot pepper, crushed tomatoes, nutritional yeast, beans, plant milk and soaked cashews if you’re using them)
3. Pour the sauce into a stovetop pan and heat up the sauce for about 8 mins. Add in the halved cherry tomatoes and heat for another 2 mins.
4. Plate some zucchini noodles, top with a scoop of the sauce, a couple basil leaves and hot pepper sauce or chilli flakes. Enjoy!

This dish was very satisfying and filling. Also, the good news is, you can literally eat a massive portion and not feel bad about it! So dig in!!