sun-dried tomato & spinach Pasta

VEGAN | GLUTEN FREE | DAIRY FREE | SUGAR FREE

creamy sun-dried tomato & spinach pasta

Who doesn’t love a big warm bowl of pasta after a long day?! I know I definitely do!

But who says that pasta needs to make you feel overly full and super sluggish afterwards? I am a firm believer that we should all be able to enjoy the foods we love and if there are ways to make a comfort food favorite like pasta into a more nutritional, whole-foods based meal, then why not!?

This sun-dried tomato & spinach pasta is a creamy and savory sauce option that is completely dairy-free, gluten-free, sugar-free and vegan! I served my sauce on top of some of my favorite chickpea pasta and it was absolutely to die for…(drooling just thinking about it!)

This sauce is easy to make and uses some of my favorite fresh ingredients such as sun-dried tomatoes, fresh spinach and basil, sweet shallots, red bell pepper, nutritional yeast and more!

THE RECIPE

Yields roughly 4 servings

prep time: 15 minutes // cook time: 30 minutes

total time: 45 minutes

ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
3/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 (8 ounce cans) plain tomato sauce
1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup shallots, diced
1/4 cup warm water
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning blend
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

method:

Prepare pasta of choice according to your box’s directions. Drain and set aside. (I used a gluten-free chickpea pasta)
Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to a large pan and place over medium heat.
Add yellow onion to the pan and simmer for a few minutes until the onions start to soften and become translucent.
To the same pan, add sun-dried tomatoes, red bell pepper, fresh basil and minced garlic. Continue to simmer for another few minutes until the vegetables have cooked down some more. Stir every so often to ensure the garlic doesn’t burn.
Add tomato sauce, coconut milk and nutritional yeast to the pan with the vegetables. Simmer on medium heat for roughly 5 minutes. Sauce should begin to bubble and thicken.
Remove the pan from heat and transfer the mixture into a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend until the sauce is creamy and all ingredients are fully combined. (Be careful while transferring the sauce as it will make the blender or food processor very hot.)
To a separate large pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add fresh spinach, shallots and warm water. Allow to cook down for roughly 5 minutes.
Pour the sauce from the blender into the pot with the shallots and spinach. Mix with a wooden spoon until ingredients are integrated with the sauce.
Season the sauce with the Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt.
Add in your pasta and mix until the sauce fully covers all of the noodles.

recipe notes:

Best enjoyed immediately or pasta can be prepared ahead of time and stored in an air-tight container for 3-5 days in the refrigerator.
Not dairy-free? You can always substitute the nutritional yeast with grated parmesan cheese if you don’t have that ingredient on hand!