Dad’s Very Veggie Pasta Sauce

Read the story that goes with the recipe.

Much to my dismay, as an adult trying to recreate my father’s many wonderful dishes, he usually made up his recipes, never measuring a single ingredient or recording any of the steps. Initially frustrating, I have turned out to be much the same in my own cooking. When one of my daughters now asks me for a recipe…well, let’s just say that it becomes more of a story than anything else.

Success!

Ingredients

-1 medium onion

-4 cloves of garlic, crushed

-1 large (or 2 small) turnip peeled and grated

-3 medium carrots peeled and grated

-1 rutabaga, peeled and grated

-1 zucchini, trimmed and grated

-1 yellow squash, trimmed and grated

-1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

-2 tablespoons dried oregano

-1 tablespoon sugar

-1 dried bay leaf

-2 28 ounce cans good quality tomato puree

-1/2 cup dry red wine

-1 cup good quality vegetable stock

-1 tablespoon Kosher salt

-Fresh black pepper to taste

-1 pasture raised, free range egg

Method

• Peel and very roughly chop the onions and garlic

• Peel, trim and grate the carrots, rutabaga, turnip, zucchini and squash using the large holes on a box grater

• Heat the oil in your largest heavy-based pan over a medium heat, then add the onions and cook on low heat heat for 10 minutes, or until softened and lightly caramelized, stirring occasionally.

• Add the garlic, remaining vegetables, and cook for about 20 minutes or until softened, stirring occasionally. Note: this will seem like a lot but it will reduce down as it cooks

• Stir in the oregano, tomato purée and bay leaf and cook for another 2-3 minutes

• Add the sugar, vegetable stock and wine (I try to use homemade stock, but if you’ve only got stock cubes, that’s fine too), then cover and let it slowly simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  The longer you simmer the better it gets.

• When it’s ready, fish out the bay leaf and season to taste with the kosher salt and pepper. (it’s important to season the sauce right at the end – it will thicken and intensify in flavor as it cooks, so you might find it’s salty enough already).

• Cook the pasta according to package directions

• Crack your egg into your serving bowl

• When the pasta is ready, do not drain, but instead using tongs, move the pasta directly from the pot to your serving bowl with the egg and toss until the egg, combined with a a good slug of olive oil has created a lovey, creamy texture on your pasta

• Add the sauce to your pasta and toss. Sprinkle with flat leaf Italian parsley and a good quality parmesan cheese

Notes

The addition of the egg with the pasta is something I do almost every time with any pasta dish. The idea came from the process for making carbonnara and I find it adds a richness and depth of flavor to the dish.

Wine Pairings

Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Grenache, Merlot, Sangiovese, Rosso di Montalcino