Last week I was craving a good ol’ pasta dish.  I usually like to make pasta with a tomato sauce that has red peppers cooked in it, but this time I wanted something different.  I saw The Vegan 8‘s recipe with zucchini and spinach, and decided to give it a try.  Zucchini is a great vegetable to incorporate into your diet, and so is kale.  There are so many articles that talk about the benefits of kale and how amazing this leafy green vegetable is for you.  And it’s something I don’t eat enough of.  So for this reason (and for the sake of my husband who hates cooked spinach lol) I chose to replace the spinach with kale.

This is a very easy sauce to make, and very versatile. You could add mushrooms to this dish, kalamata olives, other veggies, etc.  You could get yellow squash and add some more color too, and some red and green bell peppers for even more color!  And if you wanted to, you could make tomato sauce from scratch, but for the sake of ease I bought a jar of organic tomato sauce and used this to help make the creamy sauce.

Hope you enjoy it!

Zucchini & Kale Pasta Sauce

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Serves: 4-6 Cooking Time: 30 Minutes 30 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 3.5/5

( 2 voted )

Ingredients

• 8oz - Dried Pasta
• 1 Tbsp - Coconut Oil
• 1/2 - Onion
• 4 Cloves - Garlic
• 2 - Small Zucchini's, Chopped
• 3 Cup - Kale, Chopped
• 1 Cup - Vegetable Broth
• 2.5 Cups - Tomato Sauce
• 1 Cup - Vegan Milk
• 1 Tbsp - Italian Spice Blend (oregano, thyme, rosemary, etc)
• 1 tsp - Paprika
• 1/2 tsp - Cayenne Pepper (for an added kick!)
• Sea Salt and Black Pepper to taste
• OPTIONAL - Chopped Parsley, Kalamata Olives, and Vegan Cheese to garnish!

Instructions

1. Begin by chopping all of your produce (the zucchini can be chopped in 1cm wide slices and the kale should be chopped into bite size pieces).
2. Put on a pot of water to boil for your pasta. Follow the instructions on the package. Once finished, drain and set aside.
3. Add your oil, onions and garlic to a pot over medium heat. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
4. Add your zucchini, kale, and vegetable broth. Bring to a simmer and cover for 3 minutes.
5. Add your tomato sauce, vegan milk and spices now. Mix and continue to cook over medium-low heat.
6. Once the zucchini and kale have softened (easy to poke through with a fork) and are cooked to your liking, turn off heat and mix your cooked pasta in.
7. Garnish with chopped parsley or vegan cheese and serve!