It’s getting even easier to sneak in a serving of produce every day with the growing popularity of plant-based pasta. While chickpeas, cauliflower, and zucchini alternatives are nothing new, different produce is finding its way into pastas. Think noodles made from spaghetti squash, hearts of palm, and green bananas.
Check out these recipes as a way to embrace one of 2023's hottest food trends.
Beet Root Gnocchi, Delicata Squash, Broccolini, Porcini Sauce
Recipe compliments of Chef Danny Constantino, Constellation Culinary Group
Incorporating beets and mushrooms gives this savory dish an added boost of nutrients and flavor. Layering the dish with squash, broccolini, and even more beets helps to support a healthy immune system. Here’s our version of a healthy fall gnocchi!
Yield: 4
Ingredients for Porcini Sauce
2 cups mushroom stock
8 oz chopped porcini mushroom
8 oz diced portobello mushroom
4 ea. shallots minced
2 ea. cloves garlic minced
Salt & white pepper
¼ cup heavy cream (replace 1:1 with cashew cream as a plant-based alternative)
Method
- Sweat the garlic and shallots in oil with a pinch of salt.
- Add the mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add the stock and bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 4 minutes.
- Puree sauce in blender, whisk in heavy cream, season to taste.
Ingredients for Beetroot Gnocchi
1 lb baked Idaho potato
2 oz beets cooked & pureed
2 T beet powder
1 egg
¾ cup all-purpose flour (plus more as needed)
Salt & pepper
Method
- Pass cooked potatoes through a food mill, stir in the beet puree & powder.
- Add egg, flour and season to taste.
- Pipe gnocchi onto parchment using a star nozzle of the correct size.
- Freeze slightly and cut into 1 inch pieces. Refreeze to hold their shape.
Ingredients for Assembly
1 ea. delicata squash, seeded, cut into rings, seasoned, and seared on both sides
8 oz broccolini, chopped, blanched, drained & dried
1 bunch golden beets, roasted, peeled & quartered
Assembly
- Heat sauce gently to avoid breaking, flash beets & squash.
- Sauté gnocchi with olive oil until golden, add broccolini, finish with butter, season to taste, drain excess oil.
- Pour sauce into center of place, place squash on top of sauce, pour drained gnocchi & broccolini over squash, garnish with golden beets. Serve.
Chickpea Rotini with Chicken, Pesto & Oven Roasted Tomatoes
Recipe courtesy Barilla
Yield: 4
Ingredients
1 box Barilla® Chickpea Rotini
½ jar Barilla® Creamy Genovese Pesto sauce
2 T extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 lb ground chicken
2 pts cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup Romano cheese, grated
Salt and black pepper to taste
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 425° F.
- Season tomatoes with 1-tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake until blistered and thoroughly cooked, about 15 minutes.
- In a skillet, brown chicken with remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper, set aside.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, cook pasta according to package directions reserving ½-cup pasta cooking water.
- In a bowl, combine roasted tomatoes, sautéed chicken, pesto and ½ cup of pasta cooking water.
- Drain pasta and toss with pesto mixture.
- Finish with cheese before serving.
Chilled Summer Idaho® Potato "Lasagna"
Recipe courtesy Idaho Potato Commission
Yield: 4-5
Ingredients for“Lasagna” Sheets
1 ea. Idaho® Russet potato (40-count)
Olive oil for brushing
Sea salt and white pepper, to taste
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Peel the potato and reserve the skin.
- Using a spiral slicer with a flat blade, slice the potato lengthwise about 1/8 inch thick. This produces about 10 wide sheets of potato similar to lasagna noodles in size and shape.
- Brush the potato sheets with olive oil and season with sea salt and white pepper.
- Transfer sheets to a parchment-lined sheet pan and place another sheet pan on top to ensure potato sheets stay flat.
- Bake until tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Let cool, then place in refrigerator to chill.
Ingredients for Summer Vegetables
½ cup whole baby carrots
½ cup spring peas
½ cup Chioggia beets, peeled and chopped
½ cup French beans, chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ cup baby broccoli, stems removed
2 stalks green garlic, sliced, bulbs included
½ cup fresh cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 T herbes de Provence
Olive oil for coating
½ lemon, zested and juiced
Method
- Preheat oven to 475°F. Place vegetables in a large bowl and season with herbes de Provence and olive oil.
- Roast vegetables on a sheet pan until tender, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Let cool, then place in refrigerator to chill.
- Once chilled, toss with lemon zest and lemon juice.
Ingredients for Crispy Potato Confit
1 ea. Idaho® Russet potato (40-count)
6 cups duck fat
Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Peel the potato and reserve the skin. Dice potato.
- Add potatoes to a 1-quart pan, cover in duck fat and cook over medium heat until tender, 15 minutes, uncovered.
- Remove potatoes from fat and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to dry.
- Once cool, cook potatoes in a nonstick pan over medium heat until crispy, 12 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Let cool, then place in refrigerator to chill.
Ingredients for Assembly
Reserved potato peelings (from 2 potatoes)
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
2 T Calabrian chiles, puréed
“Lasagna” Sheets (see recipe)
Champagne vinegar for coating
Summer Vegetables (see recipe)
Crispy Potato Confit (see recipe)
Summer herbs or flowers for garnish
Assembly
- Preheat oven to 475°F. Place reserved potato skins on a sheet pan and bake until charred, about 15 minutes. Using a coffee grinder, process skins into a powder and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm oil and chile purée for 10 minutes.
- Toss potato sheets lightly with champagne vinegar.
- On a plate, using a rectangular mold, layer a potato sheet, followed by a layer of potato confit and roasted vegetables. Repeat until there are three or four layers, ending with vegetables on top.
- Before serving, remove mold and drizzle with the chile oil. Garnish with summer herbs or flowers and dust with charred potato powder. The dish can be assembled in advance and then chilled, or components can be chilled separately and assembled later.
