This is the perfect warm weather ‘pasta’ recipe! The simple sauce is sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil, and garlic. I served mine over zoodles (zucchini noodles), but you can also use traditional pasta. Bonus: the sauce doesn’t even require cooking…just blend, toss, and serve!
If you are using traditional pasta, cook according to package instructions. For “Zoodles”: Use your spiralizer to slice zucchini into pasta ribbons.
Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat, add the noodles, and saute for 3-5 minutes.
Remove from heat. The zoodles will release water while they cook. Make sure to drain them well.
For the sauce, add sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, and *olive oil to a food processor or blender.
I opted for vegan Parmesan cheese, but traditional is great too!
*If your sun-dried tomatoes are stored in oil, just omit the olive oil. Mine were dry.
Puree to a pesto-like consistency.
Return the drained zoodles to the large skill and add the tomato sauce. Toss to coat and season with salt, pepper, and additional Parmesan cheese. Garnish with additional fresh basil and enjoy!
Ingredients:
Zucchini Noodles:
4-5 zucchini
1 T olive oil
Tomato Sauce:
3 ounces (~1 cup) sun-dried tomatoes
1 cup fresh tomatoes (cherry or campari); halved
1-2 T olive oil*
1 cup fresh basil + more for serving
4 garlic cloves
2 T Parmesan Cheese + more for serving (I used a vegan Parmesan.)
salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
Zucchini Noodles:
Using your spiralizer, slice zucchini into long noodles or ribbons.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add “noodles” to skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes until they are slightly softened. You can skip this step altogether and see the “noodles” raw as well!
Zucchini will release liquids, so when your zoodles are done cooking, drain well.
Tomato Sauce:
Add sun-dried tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, olive oil, basil, garlic and 2 Tbsp vegan parmesan cheese to a food processor or high-speed blender and puree into a pesto-like consistency.
If it has trouble mixing, add a bit more olive oil to help encourage it along. It doesn’t need to be finely pureed, just well mixed. I think a bit of texture is a good thing in this dish.
Add drained zoodles back to the skillet you cooked it in and add tomato sauce. Toss to coat and season with salt and pepper and vegan parmesan.
Serve warm with additional fresh basil and vegan parmesan cheese. Store covered in the fridge for up to a few days, though best when fresh.
This can be enjoyed hot, sightly chilled or at room temperature, making it ideal for picnics and take-along lunches!
NOTES
*If your sun-dried tomatoes are in oil, omit the extra olive oil.
Recipe adapted from: Minimalist Baker
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