Veggie Pasta Class JJC Spring 2021 Recipes

Veggies for pasta? What? Yes. There's so many varieties of vegetables that can be used in the place of pasta, leaving a healthier, more colorful, and equally tasty result!

For anyone who hasn't attended one of my classes at JJC, you may notice that there are no measurements for these types of recipes. Everyone has different preferences on flavors, so part of the fun with savory cooking is that creativity can flow and the end result will be delicious. The biggest thing to remember when approaching recipes like this is to TASTE YOUR FOOD! Taste it before it's cooked, different stages while it's being cooked, adjust seasonings based off of what you're tasting, taste it again. It's a math problem, really. Finding balance in a recipe is about understanding how ingredients affect each other.

With that said, here's the veggie pasta recipes from the Spring semester of cooking classes at JJC!

Asian Carrot & Mushroom Stir Fry

Ingredients:

Mushrooms, quartered

Carrots, spiralized

Garlic, minced

Shallot, minced

Crushed red pepper

Fresh ginger, grated

Soy sauce/cornstarch slurry (1 to 2 ratio of cornstarch to soy sauce) (coconut aminos for gluten free)

Orange juice

Orange zest

Peanuts (toasted)

Cilantro (chopped)

White sesame seeds (toasted)

Instructions: Saute mushrooms on medium/high heat in a little bit of cooking oil (canola or vegetable oil with a high smoke point). Don’t stir too frequently so they get good caramelization. Add carrot “noodles,” saute for a few minutes until slightly tender. Add minced garlic, shallot, crushed red pepper, and fresh ginger, cook until aromatic (a minute or two). Add a slurry of soy sauce and cornstarch (1 to 2 ratio). Cook until slightly thickened, then add orange juice until the sauce is at the desired consistency. Finish with orange zest, toasted peanuts, cilantro, and toasted white sesame seeds.

Zucchini Italian Sausage Lasagna

For this recipe, the only ratio that needs to stay consistent for the binding functionality of this lasagna is one egg to one half of a cup of cottage cheese for the filling mixture of the lasagna. If you're making a larger batch, three eggs to a cup and a half of cottage cheese is perfect. The tomato sauce is something that can be made a variety of different ways, with different meats, wines, and seasonings. Even the cheeses can be experimental here, about any blend of Italian cheeses will do!

Ingredients:

Zucchini (1 for small batch, 3 for large batch)

Tomato sauce recipe

Egg (1, 3 for large batch)

Parmesan Cheese

Cottage Cheese (1/2 cup, 1 1/2 cup for large batch)

Mozzarella Cheese

Crushed red pepper

Fresh Basil

Buttery toasted breadcrumbs

*Tomato sauce:

Italian sausage

Garlic, minced

Shallot, minced

White wine (for a darker, richer sauce, use red wine here)

Canned tomato (San Marzano)

Dried herbs and seasonings of choice (oregano, parsley, basil, fennel seed, bay leaves, black peppercorns, crushed red pepper, etc...)

Instructions: Start with tomato sauce, cooking Italian sausage fully in a larger pot. Drain fat if necessary, add minced garlic and shallot and cook until aromatic (a minute or so). Add dried herbs, salt and pepper to taste, crushed red pepper. Deglaze with white wine, let cook until the wine is mostly reduced, then add the canned tomato and let simmer until the sauce is thickened.

Mandolin the zucchini to about a ¼ inch thickness, lay out on paper towels and pat dry.

Mix together egg, cottage cheese, seasonings, parmesan cheese.

Layer the zoodles, sauce, cheese mixture, and mozzarella cheese, then repeat, until the pan is full (ending with extra mozzarella cheese).

Bake at 450 degrees until the top is bubbly, top with buttery toasted breadcrumbs (toast breadcrumbs with a couple tablespoons of butter in a skillet on medium heat until it's golden brown) and lightly torn fresh basil.

Bonus Recipe!

Although this last recipe is certainly not a pasta dish, it is an absolute show stopper, highlights vegetables, and is super easy to make!

Fried Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:

Brussels Sprouts, quartered

Sweet Chili Sauce (Mae Ploy is my favorite brand)

Frying Oil in a large pot (canola or vegetable oil)

Instructions: Heat frying oil to 375 degrees. Half or quarter sprouts, depending on how large they are. Fry in the oil until they're crispy and golden brown. Be careful when you put them in the oil, they have a tendency to splatter the oil a bit because of the moisture in/on the sprouts. Once they're crispy, remove from the oil, salt, and toss in a bowl with sweet chili sauce. Enjoy!

These recipes are meant to inspire creativity and a comfortable vibe in the kitchen. They are forgiving recipes that highlight common ingredients that you likely already have at home in your fridge or pantry. Don't have one of the ingredients in one of these recipes that you want to make? No worries! There's probably a decent substitute in your kitchen already. Think about what role the ingredient plays in the recipe (sweet, sour, salty, acidic, etc), and what could work in its place. Want to make an adjustment to fit the taste buds of your family better? Do it! As long as a basic understanding of how ingredients work together is paired with a basic understanding of how to manage heat and temperature control, the results are deliciously unending!

Make one of these recipes at home? Take a picture and share it on social media! Tag @FlourchildstuffLLC or use #flourchildstuffllc, show us the flours you have blooming in your kitchen!

*A big thank you to Chef Bucci for teaching these recipes, methods, and techniques at JJC. I truly learned that a proper foundation of fundamentals of cooking can take you anywhere you want to go.