Beautiful Roots Sauce

Ciao Tutti,

I love meals that are filled with vibrant colors, so when I discovered this beautiful sauce that turns bright pink from the beets, I was super excited!  It's also gluten, dairy, and solanaceae free.  I've adapted it from a recipe by Lisa Mase on her Harmonized Cookery blog, which has loads of other tasty recipes you'll also want to check out. 

But now for the sauce...which is easily adjusted to whatever you have on hand, so don't worry if you don't have the exact amounts of ingredients.

You'll need:

3-4 carrots

1 large beet or 2-3 small ones

2 stalks of celery

1-2 sprigs of thyme

1 bay leaf

Dried basil and/or oregano

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Cut up the carrots, beets, celery.   Cook with the thyme sprigs and bay leaf in a pot of water until tender.  Once soft remove from heat, strain (I like to save the cooking water to make soup) and take out the thyme sprigs and bay leaf. 

Put into a food processor, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle on the dried basil and oregano (about a tsp of each).  Wiz it up until smooth-I sometimes add a bit of the cooking water in if it seems too chunky and dry.  Season with salt and pepper. 

My favorite way to serve it is on top of buckwheat noodles, sprinkled with chopped parsley, capers, and/or roasted cauliflower. In the spring, I love to add chopped ramps (wild garlic). Other toppings that are tasty include chopped chervil and sliced artichoke hearts, though you can happily enjoy it plain.  I think it would also be great on top of rice, quinoa, pasta, and pizza...  Get creative and let me know what you discover!