Pasta Night. Big tradition, definitely in our house. And normally, “raw pasta” dishes just don’t cut it for me. But this one… really satisfies. It has a flavor combination that should please a lot of palates, even if they’ve never been into “raw” very much.

And if you’re not quite on the 100% Raw Train, you can add some toasted Ezekiel bread for a hearty, grounding, filling meal and make it really do the job. This is a dish not just for the raw food fans, but for meat-eating, BBQ-loving guys, and for kids, as well.

Transposed directly from the recipe I used for years for the cooked version, learned from Marcella Hazan, this sauce bursts with flavor, and takes only minutes to get on the table. It’s creamy, looks cheesy, doesn’t use nutritional yeast or any raw food “tricks”, is made from simple, common ingredients… and really, really tastes yummy. This recipe alone fueled myself and a hearty meat-eating man for a long night of dancing.

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Recipe for: Creamy Bolognese Pasta Sauce with Baby Zucchini (a Raw Vegan Recipe for Everybody)p

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Make the “Meat”

• 1 portabella mushroom cap
• 1/3 cup raw walnuts
• 1 tablespoon cold-pressed olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon quality natural salt, such as Himalayan Crystal salt

Blend all ingredients in a bowl. Press down on the walnuts to crunch them up (no need to go through the labor of chopping them).

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Make the Creamy Bolognese Sauce

• about 3/4 cup (three small) tomatoes
• 1/3 cup fresh almond milk (make very simply from 1 cup almonds blended with 4 cups water, and strained through cheesecloth or nut milk bag)
• 1 tablespoon red wine
• 1 tablepoon-sized piece of red onion
• 1/4 cup celery pieces
• 1/4 cup carrot pieces
• generous grind of fresh nutmeg (about 1/8 teaspoon or more) (use the bottled stuff if you have to)

Blend all ingredients in blender. No need to be perfectly smooth — we’re not making baby food, here.

Then place in a warm over (lowest temperature) in a shallow bowl and bring to a few degrees above room temperature, stirring a few time.

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Make the “Pasta”

• 3 small baby zucchini (if you want to enjoy this dish with some toasted Ezekiel bread on the side); or, 6 small baby zucchini, or 1-2 regular-sized zucchini, depending on size (you want enuf to fill a large plate when all is said and done)
• 1 teaspoon cold-pressed olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon quality natural salt

Peel the zucchini, then slice on a sharp angle, and cut the pieces into slender halves or thirds. Toss with the olive oil and salt. Then place in a warm oven until the zucchini starts to sweat a bit. Will probably be just around room temperature; you can bring above that if you’d like.

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Assemble the Dish

Arrange the zucchini “pasta” on a plate. Top with the “meat”, and then the sauce. If you want, toast up 4-6 slices of Ezekiel bread (2-3 per person, depending on their hunger & personal need), then slice the bread into 9 pieces (3 cuts in each direction) and pile on plate. Top the Ezekiel bread with the remaining “meat” and sauce. 

Serve altogether. Make sure you use the bread to soak up all the sauce as you eat it.[/private]