Tomato-Free Pasta Sauce (GF, DF, Vegan)

Tomato-Free Pasta Sauce (GF, DF, Vegan)

I'm always on the lookout for great recipes that contain no gluten, dairy or nightshades and, to be honest, I thought I'd given up on ever enjoying pizza or pasta again!  But I came across this fabulous sauce
on a web blog and, although it's been years since I had the real thing, I could swear it tastes every bit as good as any tomato-based pasta sauce!  So, a big thanks goes out to the the author of this one and kudos for their creativity.


Here's the recipe: (Yield: about 6 cups of sauce)

I make a big batch and then can or freeze the rest in batches to have on hand.  It's really handy over pasta as a side dish for a quick and easy supper, or you can make wonderful pizza using mozzarella-flavoured Dyia cheese. Keep in mind that the sauce will lose its red colour the longer you cook it because the beets will lose their colour as they are cooked, so be sure not to over-cook the sauce after you add the beets and not over-cook if re-heating.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup carrots (cut into 1/2 inch pieces)
2 medium sweet potatoes cubed (about 4 cups)
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
fresh balck pepper to taste
1 roasted red pepper (omit if you can't eat nightshades, I don't use this)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 (8 ouce) can of beets
1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Optional herbs to make Marinara or other Italian sauce:  (I always use these and can't imagine the sauce without them!)
1/3 cup choped fresh basil (or 2-3 tbsp dried)
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 2-3 tbsp dried)
3 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 2-3 tsp dried)

Preparation:
In a large stock pot, sauté the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until soft.

Chop the carrots and sweet potatoes into cubes.

Add the carrots, diced sweet potatoes, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper, then over (barely) with water.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer (covered) for 20-30 minutes until the carrots and sweet potatoes are very soft.  Add the roasted red pepper if you are using it.  (If you can't eat tomatoes, you most likely can't eat peppers either as they are in the same nightshade family.)   You don't need to substitute if you're leaving this out, and don't add more than one as they may overpower the sauce.

Blend the contents of the pot until smooth in batches in a blender.  This is where the Bamix is a dream because the sauce never leaves the cooking pot!  Add the olive oil during the blending.  If the sauce is a bit runny at this point, don't worry about it, as the cornstarch you add later will help to thicken it.

If you want to boil meatballs or sausage in the sauce, I would add them now as well.  I usually cook them separately and just heat them in the sauce.
Puree the canned beets (liquid and all) with the cornstarch in a blender until very smooth.  Add the beet mixture to the cooking pot, along with the herbs and simmer for only about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!