The ultimate summer meal should be profoundly fresh and prepped as far away from the oven as possible. This raw summer squash ‘pasta’ recipe from The Complete Vegan Cookbook fits the bill and tastes amazing.
Put together by the country’s the leading health-focused culinary school, Natural Gourmet, you can bet this brand new veggie bible is an essential staple for any plant-driven kitchen. Grab one of many gorgeous, seasonal recipes from its pages below.
Buy Kite Hill’s vegan ricotta to make this a cinch!
Fresh and light, this raw ‘pasta,’ made from wide ribbon-like strands of zucchini and yellow squash, sings of summer. The chunky tomato sauce, which gets depth from rich sun-dried tomatoes, has a hint of heat from the red pepper flakes and complements the cool and delicate squash noodles. A few dollops of vegan ricotta, plus a handful of basil, and dinner is done — without even having to boil water!
No-Cook Summer Squash Pappardelle
with Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce + Vegan Ricotta
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the pappardelle:
3 medium zucchini, ends trimmed
3 medium yellow squash, ends trimmed
1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ tsp fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes and drained (see tip below)
1 medium tomato, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, halved, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
½ small shallot, minced
12 fresh basil leaves, chopped, plus more for serving
1 cup homemade vegan ricotta or store-bought vegan ricotta cheese
Directions:
For the pappardelle:
Using a mandoline, spiralizer, vegetable peeler or sharp knife, slice the zucchini and squash lengthwise into paper-thin strips, then stack the strips and slice lengthwise to make ½-inch thin ribbons. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with the oil, salt and pepper, and set aside to soften.
For the tomato sauce:
Put the drained sun-dried tomatoes in a food processor and pulse a few times to coarsely chop. Add the fresh tomato, bell pepper, garlic and vinegar, and pulse a few times until just combined. With the motor running, slowly stream in the oil, being careful not to over process the mixture, as the sauce should be thick and remain a bit chunky. Transfer to a bowl and fold in the red pepper flakes, shallot and basil.
Transfer the squash pappardelle to a paper towel–lined plate and using another paper towel, blot dry. Divide the noodles among four bowls. Top with dollops of the tomato sauce and the ricotta to serve.
Tip: If you like truffle oil, add a tablespoon to the ricotta for an extra umami note.
Reprinted with permission from The Complete Vegan Cookbook by the Natural Gourmet Center, copyright © 2019. Photographs by Christina Holmes. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of Penguin Random House, Inc.
