A Trio of Pasta Sauces
These sauce were created for a Halloween themed dinner with friends. The idea was to come up with some sauces that would taste good, but also be fun colors for Halloween. Unconventional for sure. In the interest of full disclosure, I have made the carrot sauce many times before. I’ve made a pea pasta sauce before, but it had been years. The cauliflower sauce was created as a pureed soup initially, but I decided I liked it more as a sauce. I’ve recreated the recipes as closely as I can remember what I did on the pea and cauliflower sauces.
Ideal thickness of a sauce is always a bit subjective. I try to allow for how much stock evaporates and I try to make it clear that you can add more stock or even cream, if that works better for you. But it also about how thick a sauce you prefer. So while I wrote down what I did, feel free to edit to suit your taste. As an added note, all of these sauces freeze well.
My guests enjoyed the sauces and combining them with the different color pasta options that night (multicolored spaetzle and squid ink pasta). It made for a fun and playful dinner.
So here are the recipes. Boo!
Carrot Pasta Sauce
1 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c. cream, half and half or evaporated milk
1T. fresh parsley or 1 t. dried
Sauté onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, carrots and stock and cook until carrots are very tender. Much of the liquid should have evaporated by then. Place mixture in blender and add cream or milk, mixing until smooth. Add dill and adjust seasonings, tossing over hot pasta to serve.
Purple Cauliflower Pasta Sauce
2 T. oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 rib celery, sliced
4-6 cups of cauliflower flowerets
2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
½ c. red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce to taste
In pot, sauté onion and celery in oil until tender and onion is getting a little color on it. Add cauliflower, stock and vinegar and simmer, uncovered, until cauliflower is very tender, about 10-15 minutes. Puree mixture and adjust seasonings. You might need to add a little more stock if the sauce gets too thick. Serve over hot pasta.
Green Pea Pasta Sauce
1 T. oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
2 c. green peas, thawed
1 c. chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c. cream, half and half or evaporated milk
1T. fresh mint or 1 t. dried
Sauté onion in oil until tender. Add garlic, peas and stock and bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Much of the liquid should have evaporated by then. Place mixture in blender and add cream or milk, mixing until smooth. Add mint and adjust seasonings, tossing over hot pasta to serve.
Purple Cauliflower Soup
I found myself with an extremely large head of purple cauliflower. It was at a local produce store and it was so pretty I could not resist. I had already eaten some in a mix of roasted vegetables. Since it was a little chilly I thought soup might be fun. So that is what I did with it. I made sure to add some vinegar to the soup to help keep the soup a bright color. I was worried it might go a bit grey, if I didn’t. I do the same thing with purple cabbage and it seems to work.
I am usually good about writing down what I do, but I confess I was visiting with a friend while making the soup so I was a bit distracted. As with most soups, there is room to change things up a bit anyway. I know I used about half of the head of the cauliflower, coarsely chopped. I know I started with a quart of broth and added a bit more. I served mine with a few cashews on top for texture. I would have added croutons if I had some.
So the recipe below is as close as I can get. I hope you try it and I hope it turns out for you and nicely as it turned out for me. My friend and I both enjoyed it.
Purple Cauliflower Soup
3 T. oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 ribs celery, sliced
2 c. chopped cabbage
4-6 c. purple cauliflower, chopped
4-6 c. stock, chicken or vegetable
¼ c. red wine vinegar
1 T. hot sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
½ c, half and half, optional
In a soup pot cook the onions in oil until tender. Add the celery and cabbage and cook about 5 minutes, or until tender. Add the cauliflower, 4 cups of the stock and the vinegar and simmer until cauliflower is tender, about 10-15 minutes. The smaller you chop the cauliflower the quicker it will get tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup. Or you can puree the soup in a blender in batches. Add the hot sauce. Adjust the seasonings and add more stock if you like a thinner soup. Add the half and half if you want a creamier texture. Served 6. The soup freezes well.
Note: Any color cauliflower works in this recipe. I had the purple cauliflower and I love the way the finished soup looked. The vinegar was added to set the color and keep the cauliflower soup bright purple. You might not need to add it to a white cauliflower soup, but I also like the zip it added to the soup.
