Made in Aberaeron: Vegetarian red ‘carrot’ pasta sauce

Posted on July 10, 2012 Updated on April 16, 2016

We found the main ingredient for this new red carrot pasta sauce at the roadside between Temple Bar and Criblyn villages in Ceredigion, Wales.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

A compulsory stop to find our bearings and the way to the little thatched cottage that would be our home for the weekend revealed a roadside stall with bunches of fresh organic carrots, homemade jams and eggs. This was still one of those places where you are trusted to pick what you want and leave the money.

We arrived ravenous at the cottage with a bunch of fresh small organic carrots, and fettuccine pasta, tinned plum tomatoes, the basics of garlic, salt and pepper, and the luxury of cinnamon in our travel cook box.

The recipe came together in my mind when I remembered an interview of Anna del Conte, the Italian food writer who raised awareness of Italian cuisine in the UK in the late 70s, and her mention to finely chopped carrots as a main ragu ingredient.

I coarsely grated the carrots for my recipe to infuse the sauce with the bright orange colour and the organic carrot flavours of this star ingredient. The result: a pure delight and a fool-proof vegetarian ragu sauce that is guaranteed to please and comfort. Yum!

Ingredients

• 7-8 small and fresh organic carrots, coarsely grated
• 2 tins of plum tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil
• Half a pack of fettuccine or other dried pasta (120g)

Preparation

Coarsely grate the carrots after you have washed them well. No need to peel really fresh and young carrots.

Finely chop the onion.

Sweat and sauté the onion on low heat for a few minutes. Use a couple of tablespoons of olive oil.

Add the grated carrots and a couple of pinches of salt, and sauté in low heat for another ten minutes or so.

Add the two tins of plum tomatoes and a teaspoon of sugar.

Mash with a wooden spoon; add another pinch of salt or two, one or two teaspoons of cinnamon, stir and cover.

Simmer on low heat for thirty or fourtyfive minutes or until the liquid has been absorbed and the sauce has reached a thick ragu consistency.

Cover and let the sauce rest for at least fifteen or more. This helps the sauce bind and the flavours come out, patience is a key.

Serve with half a pack of fettuccine, strong crumbly cheddar and coarse pepper (we used Barbers cruncher, a West Country mature, sweet and crunchy cheddar) .

This recipe makes two very generous portions but you can share between three or four.