Raw Pasta

I've been wanting to move towards a more raw diet.  I'm not saying I'm becoming a raw foodist, (yet, but doubtful), but am very interested in dabbling in ways to turn plain ole veggies into delicious meals.

I purchased 2 books, both from Jennifer Cornbleet.  I just picked them.  No recommendations, no reviews, just click and buy.  I also ordered my Joyce Chen Spiral Slicer so this dish was the first test.  My hankerin', yes, it was actually a hankerin', was for raw zucchini pasta with a marinara sauce.
I tried out the spiral slicer with carrots.  This might not be the perfect food to start with because the carrots are rather thin and trying to spear them on the spindle of the slicer was a balancing act.

Using the thicker zucchini was a much easier task and I spiral-ized 3 zucchs in no time.  I still have to figure out where to put the cut into the vegetable to not get tiny cute little circles.  If you don't put a slice in the vegetable you get continuous slices that are about 4 1/2 miles long.

Mixing the dish before serving actually stained the zucchini an authentic
spaghetti and tomato sauce pink.

I really wanted a "traditional" marinara sauce and the Cornbleet book had one.  It was also the first time I used my food processor that I got back in December.  Since my kitchen is typical of a New York City kitchen in terms of size and I have too many kitchen devices and appliances for my own good, nothing, and I mean literally nothing is within easy reach.  If it is it comes with a guarantee that you will knock three other things onto the floor reaching for it.

It should have come as no surprise to me that it made such short work of turning the tomato, pepper, garlic, herbs and spices into a smooth tomato puree.

I was out of sun dried tomatoes and although the recipe wasn't flat with the basil, oregano and garlic, it certainly would have had more depth with those added.  I am reasonably sure that nutritional yeast isn't raw but since I'm not a purist I sprinkled a bit on to add a cheesy tang.  This dish came together nicely and I thought it was actually impressive in it's simplicity.  3 zuchs are 3 nice portions and the marinara recipe is more than enough.

The only downside to the spiralizer is that it is hand wash and adds another few minutes to the cleanup.  You have to take care as the blades are not really removable and the downside to hurrying is julienning your fingertips.