from What’s in Alanna’s Secret Sauce?
Curious what Alanna’s sauce would look like? Here is the author Sarah Jane Conklin’s inspiration for the story!
Ingredients
4 cups cherry tomatoes
2 zucchini – sliced then halved
1 cup red pepper – diced
1 cup sweet onion – diced
2 garlic bulbs – ends cut off
1 bunch fresh carrots – halved with a little green stem left on.
¾ cup olive oil
Coarse salt and pepper to taste
Fresh Pesto
Pesto
2 cups fresh herbs
Basil (mostly), oregano, chives, parsley, thyme
3-4 garlic cloves
1 heaping tbsp pine nuts
¼ cup parmesan cheese
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
Directions
To make the sauce: Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large (I use an 18×12) roasting pan, place the tomatoes, zucchini, red pepper, onion, carrots, and garlic bulbs with cut side down. Drizzle and coat with olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 45 mins.
Pesto: While the vegetables are baking, make your pesto. I use a pestle, but a small blender is fine.
When vegetables are done, remove the garlic bulbs, carrots and a few veggies. Squeeze out one bulb into the roaster, and with a masher, combine and mash all the vegetables in the roaster until it’s a chunky sauce. Squeeze out the remaining garlic cloves and add them whole to the sauce along with the freshly made pesto.
Serve with the sliced carrots and parsley on top.
(Optional. Sometimes I add baby spinach at the end, or red pepper flakes)
Nada’s Tips & Tricks: A great way to make a healthy and fresh sauce. I add Italian seasoning to the vegetables before roasting them. Fresh herbs are still plentiful, and the pesto is a great way to use them up.
Contents and images used with permission by author Sarah Jane Conklin. http://www.sarahjaneconklin.ca/
