pasta sauce

[MITllama]

I am bored with red pasta sauce, and don't like heavy Alfredo sauce. I have been experimenting with making sauce from cooked sweet potatoes or green peas, but both seem to lack oomph. I added crushed pineapple to the sweet potatoes and that helped, but it needs something more. I tried adding tomatillo salsa to the green peas, but that wasn't quite right either (or not to my taste). Any suggestions? I'm open to any vegetable base.

[rooftop1000]

How about a caponata...sweet and sour eggplant relish...roasted or sauteed eggplant zuchini peppers onions garlic celary raisins vinager...etc

its yummy

tracey

[Pontormo]

See what Elie Nassar did with butternut squash in post #149 here..

Search online for a discount to purchase Marcella Hazan's Essentials...., a cookbook discussed here.. I think you'll find it an eye-opener since there are plenty of things to do with pasta and vegetables that are and are not sauces per se.

[andiesenji]

I discovered this Sweet pepper pasta sauce several years ago and have great success with it.

I keep jars of roasted sweet red peppers (or the combination of red, yellow and green in a jar found at TJs) if it is a last-minute idea and I don't want to go out to the market.

I also often use carmelized onions from the freezer.

As posted, this is a vegetarian sauce, however I have used beef broth, chicken broth, duck stock, etc., depending on what I have on hand.

For people who have digestive problems, with high acid foods, this is an ideal substitute.

[ludja]

If you would like to do something with sweet potato flavors I might ry something like this: roast butternut squash cut into medium-small dice. Season with salt and pepper. After roasting, toss with some butter in which some fresh sage leaves have briefly sauteed. Use a short pasta like fusilli or penne. Maybe add some sauteed onion and/or garlic.

Or, omit the sage butter sauce and use olive oil and garlic and add some parmesean or some dry crumblled cheese like a ricotta salata. Another options would be caramelized onions or some roasted peppers. Season with red crushed pepper. Another flavor that goes well with roasted squash is bacon or pancetta.

I like savory, salty, peppery flavors in combination with sweet potato/butternut squash. They provide a nice contrast to the inherently sweet flavors of the squash.

[chezcherie]

i like a little heat with my sweet potatoes--try chile flakes, chipotle powder or tabasco with chipotle.

[beccaboo]

I like sweet potatoes with peanut sauce--maybe for your pasta sauce you could add coconut milk, peanut butter, chile, ginger, garlic, tamarind, and soy sauce, whizzed together, and some coriander and green onion.

[Kevin72]

I like the caponata suggestion upthread and think that adapting it for sweet potatoes would be a natural fit.

Mint works surpringly well with vegetables as a pasta sauce, particularly when combined with a pinch of chilies and pecorino cheese.

[jm chen]

I've had some great success sauteing cubed butternut squash and shallots in butter, then plating with buttered noodles and a splat of ricotta on top. Not exactly a sauce, but when you stir it all around, it acts and tastes like one.

Also had a nice restaurant pasta dish the other day with gorgonzola and apples. Could essentially be prepared same as above.