No-Mato Marinara (Nightshade Free)

A life without marinara is hardly worth living…I’m only somewhat exaggerating that statement. Spaghetti and meatballs, margarita pizza, cheese ravioli: carbs have no meaning when you’re talking to me about Italian food. I have shared far too many happy memories with my family over a plate of my Grammy’s lasagna to ever think about giving up some of my favourite foods.

Thankfully, I came across a nightshade-free marinara that I can honestly say tastes nothing like squash or beets and 100% like the real, unadulterated tomatoes. Even if tomatoes weren’t something that we had to give up, I would still happily make this instead.

Ingredients

• 1 ½  cups 1" cubed carrots (about 2 medium)
• 3 cups peeled, 1" cubed Butternut squash (from a 1 1/2 lb/680g squash)
• 1 ½  cup 1" cubed red beets 
• 6-7 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ½  cups diced yellow onion (1 medium)
• 3 tablespoons Ghee or other fat for frying 
• 1 ¾  cups water 
• ¼ cup  apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup (60ml) lemon juice 
• 2 whole bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried Italian herbs (Rosemary, thyme, basil, oregano, sage)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper, or more to taste

Method

"Courgetti" and Meatballs
courgette = zucchini for my fellow Americans

Place the cubed carrots, squash, and beets in boiling water for 30-40 minutes on medium heat, or until they are soft enough to easily pierce with a fork. Use a steamer or pressure cooker to cook the carrots, butternut squash and beets together till soft.

As the veggie mixture is cooking, melt the ghee over medium heat adding the garlic and onions to caramelize.

Drain the water from the vegetables, then add the veggies along with the onion mixture, water, vinegar and lemon juice to either a blender or bowl depending on your blending tool of choice (I used my an immersion blender) and blend till smooth.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan when it’s smooth, adding the herbs and pepper. Simmer and stir over medium heat for 15-25 minutes.  

Remove from heat and enjoy! This makes about 1 US quart, so you may need to store/freeze for later use.

Paleo Pizza Dough & Vegan Mozzarella

*Recipe adapted from The Urban Poser