“When the moon hits your eye like a big…” bowl of zoodles tossed in a savory tomato sauce, you know that’s amore, right? Sometimes you just have to improvise the lyrics to a classic song in order to fit your raw vegan lifestyle. Even more important than the lyrics are the ingredients you use. Forget the store bought jar of sauce and packaged pasta because you won’t need them for this recipe. In fact, you don’t ever need to use jarred sauce because it is filled with sodium and preservatives.

This raw vegan entree is not only filling, but also a pleasant break from salads and smoothies. The first task is to spiralize the zucchini, which is quite an easy process. We recommend that you use a spiralizer that is not handheld, i.e. it has feet and a hand crank so that you can secure it to your countertop. This type of spiralizer is great for zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, and more! Once you have your zoodles, you need to make the sauce. Before you do that, we recommend that you pat the zoodles dry with some paper towels.

The great thing about a savory, raw vegan tomato sauce is that you can achieve great depth of flavor without cooking. When you use the proper seasonings and ingredients, you can achieve greatness. Nutritional yeast gives your sauce a cheesy flavor, which would come from parmesan cheese. The sun-dried tomatoes (make sure they are packaged and not the ones that are jarred in oil) offer a lovely acidity and richness. To help thicken the sauce, you have one date and some raw sunflower seeds. Those may seem like odd additions to your sauce, but trust us…they work!