Today is World Pasta Day, created by the Italians to celebrate the food the whole world loves. How do you pasta?

For me, pasta without a drizzle of olive oil for silkiness and gilding seems lonely, It’s probably nothing your nonna would approve of, either. You don’t want to piss off your nonna.

I’m stingy with olive oil, especially compared to your nonna and my culinary crushes and Italy experts Marcella Hazan and Lidia Bastianich.

So why did I want to offer an oil-free recipe for World Pasta Day? Because I don’t have enough stress in my life already? No, because everyone deserves a seat at the table — including folks on an oil-free diet.

Do you have an oil-free recipe you love? I’d love to know about it and share. I did my research and made some initial attempts. They were edible and ticked all the boxes. . . except for proper deliciousness. They were nothing I’d serve to you, or God forbid, your nonna.

I noodled (forgive the pun) over modern iterations, but kept coming back to age-old Mediterranean ones. And then I thought, salsa doppio, literally double sauce. You make a sauce, usually a light tomato sauce, then cook the pasta in it. Most — okay — all recipes I found are made with olive oil, but I went rogue and discovered it works without it. The pasta enriches and thickens the sauce, the sauce infuses the pasta. It’s a win-win for World Pasta Day and every day.

Not Your Nonna’s Pasta

Before I share, here are a few notes on this crazy recipe:

I used whole grain spaghetti, but the method works for any shape or kind of noodle.
If you’re using commercial vegetable broth, go for low sodium.
This is recipe is basic and very flexible, inviting all kinds of vegetables and other adds*.
If you’re using broccoli or cauliflower florets, add them in with the pasta, so they cook at the same time.
Less is more. Cook until just al dente — to the tooth.
Reserve the cooking water/sauce. You’ll need it a second time. This is a double sauce, remember?

Not Your Nonna's Pasta

A flavorful oil-free pasta that you grandmother will approve of.

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Course Main Course

Servings 4

Ingredients

Main Pasta:

6 cups vegetable broth preferably homemade, or if commercial, go for low sodium
1/4 cup tomato paste
pinch saffron threads if desired
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
8 ounces pasta preferably whole grain
4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Vegetable Additions:

2 cups spinach or arugula chopped
1 cup tomatoes chopped
1 cup roasted red pepeprs chopped
1 cup artichoke hearts chopped
1/3 cup olives green or ripe
a few sprigs of basil or rosemary
1 cup chickpeas or white beans
1 cup peas

Instructions

In a large pot, bring vegetable broth to boil over high heat. Add tomato paste and stir in to combine. Add saffron, if using, red pepper flakes and fennel.
With the broth still on the boil, add your pasta. Cook just until al dente. That means to the tooth, people. The pasta should yield when you bite it.
Drain pasta into a colander with a bowl beneath to save the sauce.
You’ll see the pasta will have drunk up quite a bit of the broth and the broth will be thickened from the pasta. Cool.
Pour pasta into a large bowl. Sprinkle in nutritional yeast and toss to combine.
Add some of the sauce back into the pasta bowl, 1/2 cup at a time, where it will continue to absorb into the pasta.
You can finish with some sea salt and pepper and enjoy like this, or add the vegetable ingredients.
Toss what you like in with the pasta and add the sauce back in half-cup increments until you have the pasta of your dreams. Your nonna will understand.

Notes

I used whole grain spaghetti, but the method works for any shape or kind of pasta.
If you’re using commercial vegetable broth, go for low sodium.
This recipe is basic and very flexible, inviting all kinds of vegetables and other adds*.
If you’re using broccoli or cauliflower florets, add them in with the pasta, so they cook at the same time.
Less is more. Cook pasta until just al dente — to the tooth.
Reserve the cooking water/sauce. You’ll need it a second time. This is a double sauce, remember?

Keyword oil-free pasta, pasta, world pasta

Looking for more pasta recipes?

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Not Your Nonna’s Pasta for World Pasta Day

Not Your Nonna’s Pasta