Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta (Vegan, Oil-free)
This delicious Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta is full of flavor, thick and creamy and you'd never know it's vegan and oil-free and healthy. It is also low-fat but tastes incredibly rich!
Servings: 2 1/2 cups
Calories: 40kcal
Ingredients
- 1 firmly packed cup sun-dried tomatoes (88g) from a bag, not a jar of oil
- 1/2 cup (120g) unsweetened plain almond milk or milk of choice if nut-free is needed
- 3/4 teaspoon red wine vinegar (really amps up the flavor)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons (24g) roasted almond butter (or sunbutter for nut-free)
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup or agave
- 1/2 teaspoon each of dried oregano and dried basil
- 3 cloves minced garlic (8g)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (can leave out for kids)
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon fine salt or MORE to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)
- 12-16 oz of pasta of choice (I used penne)
NOTE
- Make sure you are weighing the sundried tomatoes to make sure you are getting the accurate amount so your sauce has the rich flavor.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- If at all possible, to ensure you are ending up with the full flavor profile of the recipe, please weigh the sundried tomatoes. I believe the mismeasurement and skipping the soaking is causing some to end up with a bland sauce and this is a VERY flavorful sauce when made correctly.NOTE: There are a few people SKIPPING THE SOAKING OF THE SUNDRIED TOMATOES OVERNIGHT. This is CRUCIAL to the end flavor. You can't skip this and add plain water or your end result will be BLAND. This sauce has a rich, wholesome flavor that comes FROM the correct amount of sundried tomatoes and THE SOAKING LIQUID. This is absolutely necessary to really soften the tomatoes so the sauce turns out 100% smooth and creamy as well.
- Add the sundried tomatoes to a bowl with 2 cups of filtered water and soak overnight. This is absolutely necessary. The liquid that is produced from soaking is the 3/4 cup of liquid you add to the soaked tomatoes. IF YOU SKIP this, don't be surprised if your sauce has hardly any flavor in the end.
- After soaking, drain the water into another bowl, not the sink. You will be using ONLY 3/4 cup of the soaking liquid for the sauce, which gives a ton of flavor.
- Add the drained tomatoes, plus 3/4 cup (180g) of the soaking liquid and the remaining ingredients (minus the pasta of course). Blend until smooth, thick and creamy. You will need to stop and scrape the sides a few times, as it's very thick as first. The longer you blend, the smoother it will get. There should be no bits of tomato remaining.Tip: I used a powerful blender, but if you do not have a strong blender, then I would recommend blending this in a food processor instead, as a food processor tends to work much better than a weak blender.
- After blending, taste and add more salt or red pepper is desired. I ended up using a total of 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. This will yield 2 1/2 cups sauce. Serve over cooked pasta of choice. We ate this over penne pasta with parsley and additional red pepper flakes and it was so delicious. If you'd like additional protein, these Smoky Chipotle Chickpeas would be delicious on top as well!
Notes
Nutrition is based on the sauce only.
Nutrition
Calories: 40kcal | Carbohydrates: 5.8g | Protein: 1.9g | Fat: 1.7g | Sodium: 239mg | Fiber: 1.5g | Sugar: 3.4g