Bloggy Inspiration

One of the things I love most about the blogging community as a whole is its ability to inspire.  A week or so ago, when visiting some of my favorite blogs, I saw a mention of a Pasta with Roasted Carrot Sauce, which came from a cookbook I also have, but don’t pull out very often.  Inspired by Into Still Waters, I dug out that cookbook and leafed through it, seeing all kinds of recipes that I might like to try in the future- but getting caught on that same pasta recipe.  I had to try it! It just sounded refreshing to me, as I am literally tired of pasta with red sauce, and if I faced a plate of it, I honestly don’t know if I could eat it, I’m that tired of it.  But I wanted something different for dinner, and I decided this Pasta with Roasted Carrot Sauce was going to be dinner, with a few modifications.

When Rina made it, she said it was missing something, and as it so happened, I had some extra produce to use up before it went bad, so I added it in, and I was very happy with the results.

I started with the carrots.  I peeled and sliced them, chopped an onion, chopped some bell pepper (minis in this case) and peeled three cloves of garlic, but left those whole.  These I drizzled with a tiny bit of oil, salt and pepper,and popped into a 425 degree oven to roast up.  When they were done, they smelled and looked fantastic.

At the same time, I took my roma tomatoes and sliced them in half.  I put them in a small baking dish, drizzled with oil, salt and pepper, and then went through the freezer looking for herbs.  I ended up adding some fennel fronds, a tiny pinch of rosemary and three thyme sprigs.  This also roasted in the oven for 30 minutes.

Now that my roasting was complete, I set my pasta to boiling, and retrieved my vegetable stock, my blender, and a large bowl for tossing the pasta in. Here’s the veggie stock- it measured two cups, but I only used one cup of it.

The roasted veggies and the stock went in the blender.  After a bit of a party in the blender, I tasted and added more salt and pepper.

By then, the pasta was done, so I caught up 1 cup of pasta water in a measuring cup, drained the pasta and added it to the bowl, ready to receive the roasted veggie sauce.  The pasta water I used to thin out the sauce a bit as I tossed the two together.  I ended up using about 3/4 of the cup of pasta water before I was happy with the texture.

When all was said and done, I had a very vibrant orange pasta, that took very little hands-on work to do.  It was very cost-effective, as it used ingredients on hand, and I want to add that frozen carrots would work just as well in this recipe, just run them under hot water to thaw them before roasting.  It was blessedly different from a red tomatoey sauce, slightly sweet, slightly herby, and all around a good all-purpose sauce.  I really liked the method as well, and I have every intention of making a green variation when  I have some fresh basil, spinach and broccoli from the garden- roasting the broccoli with onions and garlic, and wilting the spinach on the stove-top.  This will be made again in our household, and I’ll be heading back to this little-used cookbook again very soon for more vegetable inspiration.

Pasta With Roasted Carrot Sauce

adapted from Vegetarian Times Complete Cookbook

5 carrots, peeled and sliced

1 onion, coarsely chopped

1 bell pepper, cut into chunks

3 cloves garlic, peeled, but left whole

5 roma tomatoes

An assortment of fresh herbs as desired

olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup vegetable broth

1 pound cooked pasta, 1 cup of pasta cooking water, reserved

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425º.

Combine the carrots, onion, garlic cloves and bell pepper on a sheet pan.  Drizzle with olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper.  Toss gently.  Place in the oven to roast for 30 minutes, stirring twice while roasting.

At the same time, cut the roma tomatoes in half, and place them in a baking dish, cut side up.  Add any fresh herbs you desire (or dried if it’s what you have on hand), and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Once all the vegetables are roasted, scrape them into a blender, and add the 1 cup of vegetable broth.  Leave the top of the blender askew just a touch when blending a hot liquid to allow steam to escape.  Blend until smooth.

Toss the roasted carrot sauce with the hot pasta, adding the reserved pasta water as desired to loosen the sauce a bit.

Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Serves 6.