Sweet Garden Pasta with Carrots

Sweet garden pasta sauce made with carrots, peppers and honey roasted tomatoes. Yep– you read that right! This lovely sauce gets simmered with All Grass Farms ground beef for a well-rounded pasta dinner.

This recipe was developed for All Grass Farms, a regenerative “pasture” farm located in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Their beef is 100% grass fed and finished. That means no corn, soy or grain. The herd is moved daily, ensuring fresh pasture and allowing the land to recover. Read further about All Grass Farms farming practices HERE.

FARMERS MARKET INSPIRED PASTA.

It’s official! We moved to Wisconsin. After a few days of unpacking, I felt relaxed enough to explore the Merril Farmers Market. I have no garden at the moment, so I leaned on local growers for this dish.

I knew I wanted to make a pasta sauce with ground beef, but I wanted to make it different. I spotted beautiful, fat carrots at the market along with big, meaty tomatoes. I bought both from Double State Farm, a family run operation in Merril selling produce and meat. They currently sell at farmers markets and have a self serve stand located on their farm.

Once I saw the carrots, I immediately knew I wanted to go the sweet route for the pasta sauce. To go along with the carrots, I purchased local honey from Maple Ridge Farm. A taste test revealed to me a balanced sweetness, not a pucker-your lips sweet. I really enjoyed it and decided it would also work for this recipe.

WHY SWEET GARDEN PASTA?

A sweet pasta sauce can go wrong if not properly balanced. You’ve probably seen that scene in Goodfellas when one of the guys is acting like he is hosting a cooking show and is narrating his sauce (gravy) ingredients. He thew in a pinch of sugar to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes.

Honey was drizzled atop the tomatoes prior to roasting in the oven to encourage caramelization. The sweetness of the honey compliments the acidity of the tomatoes. Carrots are sweet but also earthy. A pinch of All Spice brings out warm notes and marries the flavors.

HOW TO MAKE SWEET GARDEN PASTA SAUCE.

ROAST. The tomatoes are oiled and drizzled with honey and salt and roasted along with a halved head of garlic, skin on. The tomatoes will caramelize, and the garlic will soften to the point the bulbs burst from the skins with just a little pressure.

SAUTE. In a Dutch oven or big pot, onions, peppers and carrots mingle until soft. Then, they are seasoned well with salt, herbs and spices.

SIMMER. Tomatoes and garlic are added to the pot along with a healthy glug of red wine. Simmer for hours uncovered to build flavor.

BLEND. Remove the bay leaves and blend, blend blend! I love my immersion blender but, in this case, I recommend a true stand blender to ensure the skins are undetectable. I had to blend in batches since I was using a smoothie cup blender. Always be careful blending hot liquids.

FINISH UP. You could stop here and refrigerate the sauce for tomorrow’s dinner. Alternatively, you could freeze it. But if you are making this recipe in its entirety in one day, add butter to pot the sauce was in before blending. Keep the heat on low to keep the sauce warm while you brown the ground beef. Add the ground beef along with cheese to the sauce and simmer for another hour or so to build flavor.

SERVE. Boil penne and enjoy the amazing meal you just made!

WHY MAKE THIS PASTA?

NO BLANCHING!

I didn’t bother with removing the tomato skins. Instead, I cored, then roasted them in a 400F oven before combining them with the other ingredients. Everything get’s blended, making for a smooth sauce. You’d never know skins were left on. Note: blend on smoothie setting!

MAKE AHEAD!

The pasta sauce can be made ahead. For a quick, well-balanced meal, just prepare the ground beef and add the sauce. Simmer for an hour or so and serve with noodles. Easy dinner that is full of summer flavor.

Check out more recipes featuring All Grass Farms pastured pork, chicken and grass-fed beef:

Chicken & Chive Dumpling Stew– Fluffy, chive dumplings simmered to perfection in a creamy broth with mounds of chicken is comfort food at its best! 

Stuffed Green Peppers with Farro and Italian Sausage in Sungold Tomato Sauce– When an abundance of cherry tomatoes graces your garden, roast them in the oven to make a glorious sauce. To the sauce, I combined Italian sausage and farro to make a dreamy filling for roasted green peppers. The result was a garden-fresh dinner that everyone loved.

Soy Free Korean Short Ribs in the Slow Cooker- Classic Korean red chili seasoning, Gochugaru, gives the ribs a mild, smokey heat that pairs well with honey, robust coconut aminos and sesame oil.