As many of you know I signed up for a weekly produce box when the whole lockdown started. I absolutely love it- every Wednesday Brookside Farms Home Delivery delivers a box of fresh fruits and vegetables to my house. I love the variety, and the element of surprise in not know what is coming next. I knew that I wanted to use a lot of my most recent delivery in one dish, and decided when better to do that than on Meatless Monday? This vegetable ragu has such a great depth of flavor, and even meat lovers will be satisfied. You can serve it over any style of pasta, or with a warm crusty sourdough bread. Enjoy!
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To get started gather up your ingredients and prep your vegetables. Having them all ready to go at the same time is ideal- and will make the entire process so much easier. As you can see in the pictures above you want the zucchini to be chunky, because they soften so easily, so you don't want them to turn to complete mush in your sauce.
Once your vegetables are all prepped, but your spices together as well to make it easier when you get to that step. Heat your oil over medium heat, add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure they don't brown. You want them to be slightly translucent.
Once the onions and garlic are soft, add the carrots and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. You want the vegetables slightly soft. Next, add the mushrooms and zucchini. Stir to combine and cook for an additional 5 minutes.
Add the spices and mix to combine, then pour in the wine. Mix well and let cook down for 5 minutes.
Add the crushed tomatoes and turn heat to low. Let simmer for 20 minutes. Serve with fresh pasta or sourdough bread- top with freshly grated Parmesan and enjoy!
Vegetable Ragu
3 cloves garlic
1 yellow onion
2 carrots
2 small green peppers
1 zucchini
8 ounces white mushrooms
½ cup dry red wine
28 ounces crushed tomatoes
2 Tablespoons olive oil
½ Tablespoon kosher salt
1 ½ teaspoons oregano
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon rosemary
3-5 basil leaves (depending on your preference)
Optional: crushed red pepper
1. Wash and dry all produce. To prep the produce you will want to: slice garlic thin, dice yellow onion, peel and dice carrots, dice green peppers, cut zucchini into ½ inch rounds then cut into quarters, de-stem and slice mushrooms.
2. In a large, deep, nonstick skillet, heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, stirring occasionally and cook for 5 minutes until slightly translucent. Add the carrot and pepper and mix to combine, cook for 3 minutes until they begin to soften. Next, add the zucchini and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so that nothing begins to caramelize.
3. Add all spices and stir to make sure they are uniformly distributed. Add the red wine and let cook down for 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, mix to combine and turn heat down to low for a simmer. Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over fresh pasta of your choice with freshly grated Parmesan and enjoy!