Steamed Carrots Are The Secret To Luscious, Shiny Pasta Sauce
The key to making a simple yet super tasty and luxurious pasta dish is perfecting the sauce. Tomato-based sauces are the typical go-to for pasta but why not switch things up with a delicious carrot sauce instead? Use carrots to create a colorful, silky veggie pasta sauce that adults and kids alike will love (you can even keep the recipe a secret from veggie-averse kids).
To make this creamy pasta sauce, the trick is to steam your carrots to get them nice and soft before trying to blend them with a food processor or blender. It also helps to cut the carrots into relatively small pieces to help them steam faster. You'll know the carrots are ready to be blended when you can smush them easily with a fork. Add some garlic cloves to the steamer basket for extra flavor and to balance the sweetness of the carrots. For an extra kick, add a hot chili pepper or two, like serrano, cayenne, or Calabrian peppers.
You'll need a liquid like pasta water or olive oil to blend the carrots into a smooth, creamy sauce and not a thick puree. You can also add some blended cashews to the sauce for extra nutty, savory flavor, and ultimate creaminess. Soak the cashews in a bowl of hot water to soften them and blend them with the steamed carrots. Follow a few more helpful tips and you'll be enjoying perfect carrot-sauce pasta in no time.
Tips for the best carrot pasta sauce
In case you haven't heard, saving your pasta water is a crucial tip you need when making homemade pasta sauce. The leftover water from cooking pasta is packed with starch which acts as a binder and helps create the ideal consistency for your pasta sauce. Adding the cloudy water to your carrot blend is the perfect way to thin out your sauce without making it watery. Also, when combined with a fat like olive oil, pasta water forms an emulsion that helps the sauce stick better to the noodles.
In addition to saving the pasta water for your sauce, another important tip for carrot sauce is to stick with fresh-from-the-ground carrots — baby carrots are an unfit swap for normal carrots. Baby carrots are convenient for snacking and salads, but they have less flavor than regular carrots due to the processing they undergo when packaged.
For a sweeter sauce, try roasting your carrots instead of steaming them. The caramelization that occurs when they're roasted is why roasted vegetables taste sweeter. Roasting enhances the natural sweetness of the carrots while introducing a nutty, rich flavor that you can't achieve with boiling or steaming. Pasta with carrot sauce can be a meal on its own — make it extra filling by adding breadcrumbs and vegetarian sausage like in this vegetarian spaghetti "carbonara" recipe. Boost your presentation by topping it with some parsley or other fresh herbs for a touch of green.
Other tasty veggie sauces
If you're looking to keep branching out beyond tomatoes, plenty of other vegetables besides carrots can be used to create a luxurious, creamy pasta sauce. If you enjoy the bright orange color, try steaming pumpkin or the sweeter butternut squash. Both fresh pumpkin and butternut squash can be steamed or roasted (for a more caramelized, nutty flavor) and blended with olive oil and garlic to boost the flavor.
Making a butternut squash pasta sauce is similar to making a simple roasted butternut squash soup. Indeed, you can use other veggie soup recipes as guidance for your pasta sauce, like a blended zucchini soup, or a cream of mushroom, broccoli, or asparagus soup. The key is to choose a blended, smooth soup or puree recipe, instead of a thin, watery soup that won't stick to the noodles.
Don't be afraid to get creative and blend multiple veggies for your sauce, like carrots, bell peppers, celery, and zucchini. Or steam and puree some cauliflower for a tasty veggie alfredo sauce. The possibilities for a non-tomato pasta sauce are endless, not to mention delicious and nutritious.