know there are a good number of pasta & marinara sauce recipes here, but I made this one for lunch today and it was so good I had to post it!
I've never used seeds to make a cheese flavor before, so when I tossed a tablespoon of sunflower seeds into the marinara sauce to thicken it, I was delighted when I tasted... parmesan! Whoa?!
1/2 large squash

1/4 large english cucumber

----

1 roma tomato

1/2 clove garlic (or
1 small)

1/8 cup green bell pepper

1 thick slice of halved onion

1 sun dried tomato piece (2 if too
small)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp mixed italian seasonings

1 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (opt)

1/4 tsp sea salt
Make your squash and cucumber into noodles. I don't have a spiralizer, so I sliced them thinly and then used a vegetable peeler to make thin noodles. Place veggie noodles in a bowl and set aside.

To prepare sauce:

Roughly chop tomato, garlic, bell pepper, and onion and place in blender. Mince sun dried tomato and toss in blender, as well. Blend on low until it starts moving (you may have to push it down once or twice, but it will go fine after a minute). Add in olive oil and italian seasonings, continue to blend on low. If you want to add the sunflower seeds, toss them in with the salt (they are totally optional but add protein, a few calories, and a parmesan taste!). Flip blender up to high and puree another 20 seconds or so.
Pour sauce over bowl of 'noodles', toss together, and serve!

[variation: if you like the texture of sun-dried tomatoes, mince them finely and use them as a garnish instead of pureeing them in the sauce.]

This makes one full bowl.
