How to Make Pasta Sauce Without Boiling From Almost Any Vegetable
It doesn’t take long on the stove for the noodles to taste good, so they work reliably in the summer. As much as I love cold peanut noodles , sometimes I really want a bowl of pasta with a silky sauce filled with vegetables and cheese without spending an hour simmering the sauce.
Since my work is heavily influenced by my desires, I hacked the no-cooking pasta sauce code and it’s incredibly simple. First, add the zest and juice of one or two lemons to a large bowl. (One lemon is enough for half a pound of dried pasta, but use two for a whole pound.) Add a healthy teaspoon of salt, a few pinches of white or brown sugar, some olive oil, and lots of black cracked. pepper; beat with a fork to combine. Add a grated clove of garlic and / or finely chopped shallots, onions, green onions, or leeks and boom – you’ve just made a powerful marinade that will soften almost any thinly sliced ​​vegetables in a matter of hours.
Now comes the fun part: the choice of vegetables. Tomatoes are an obvious choice for good reason, but any vegetable you eat raw will be delicious. Beet and carrot shavings, fennel, cauliflower, arugula, cabbage, fresh corn, and banded squash or yellow squash work well. Cut the vegetables as thinly as possible, making them shapes to mimic the shape of the pasta you are using. For example, when I do this with tomatoes, I usually use orecchiette and cut the tomatoes into cubes that are about the same size; For the cauliflower, I shave the individual buds into leaves and use pappardelle or large hollow noodles like paccheri. Toss the chopped vegetables into the marinade, stir well, and cover the bowl. Set aside at room temperature for a few hours or overnight; they don’t soften enough in the refrigerator.
To finish off the meal, boil the pasta in salted water until cooked through. Reserve a ladle or coffee mug of water for the pasta, then strain the pasta and add to the pickled vegetables. Stir and stir vigorously – you want the hot noodles to soften the vegetables a little – and add a couple of drops of water for the pasta if desired. Let the pasta sit for a few minutes while you chop fresh herbs, grate or chop cheese, and / or toast nuts, then add your favorite accessories and dig in.
There is a lot to love about this technique and I think its adaptability is by far the best. After you’ve made your lemon-based marinade, try making it with balsamic vinegar, lime, or any other acid you really love. Whichever you choose, you end up with a tasty and delicious dish with contrasting textures and aromas – not bad for a last minute summer dinner.