Recipe: Vegetable Pasta

Vegetable Pasta

Serves 4

With the use of a food processor shredding disc you can cut vegetables into pastalike spaghetti strands that provide a healthful base for stews and sauces. The vegetables should be cut into pieces that will fit the width of the food processor feed tube.

1 large turnip, peeled and cut into 3-inch-long pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch-long pieces
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 3-inch-long pieces
2 large zucchini, washed and dried,
trimmed, and cut into 3-inch-long pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Place the vegetables in batches in the top of the food processor and slice them into ribbons.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the turnips, carrots, and parsnips in the water and cook for about 1 minute, or until tender. Add the zucchini and cook for an additional 30 seconds.

3. Drain, season with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Variations:

Vegetables can also be shredded with a hand-held mandoline or other slicing and shredding gadget.
Cooked spaghetti squash can be added to the finished product.
If to be used as a side dish, instead of as a base for sauce, toss the vegetable pasta with 1 to 2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese.

Cook Note:
Turnips are the culinary Cinderellas of the vegetable world. They are an excellent source of vitamin C and retain 60 percent of this necessary vitamin even after cooking. Turnips are rich in potassium, calcium, and phosphorus. Turnips deteriorate rapidly so remove the leaves, which drain the juices from the roots, to allow them to stay fresher. Turnips will stay fresh in a perforated plastic bag in the vegetable crisper in the refrigerator for about a week.

Do-Ahead Prep:
The vegetables can be readied in advance but must be cooked at the very last minute.

Buy the Book!

Entertaining Light & Easy
By Laurie Burrows Grad
Simon & Schuster, 1998
Hardback: $25.00
ISBN: 0-684-82714X
Recipe reprinted by permission.