Don’t tell the picky eater in your household that this pasta sauce is a vitamin-charged Zucchini puree’- at least not until after they take the first bite. Only then should you fess-up to the secret-ingredient!

Italians often eat thick vegetable puree’s that have small minestrone-type pasta or rice floating in it- it’s almost like a chowder. Since these puree’s usually have a mix of veggies they’re often brown. About a month ago, as I was preparing this puree with just zucchini and coming up with a compelling argument to get my children to eat it, I realized that the puree is thick and velvety like a pasta sauce. With a heavier hand of basil and a touch of fresh garlic at the end I had a very, very close facsimile to a creamy pesto sauce.

We tried various combinations, like replacing the water with veggie stock, but arrived at this final recipe for it’s clean flavors and very delicate zucchininess – according to my children it’s almost pleasant. Almost… they insist, to keep their anti-zucchini position untarnished, while they spear the pasta with feverish gusto.

This sauce is the perfectly suited for cooking in the small pan that often comes with a pressure cooker set. The water for spaghetti boils in the stock pot cooker, while the sauce pressure cooks in the small pressure pan.

Don’t have a pressure cooker set? Don’t worry – this recipe will also work in stockpot-type cookers.

Pressure Cooker Accessories Pr. Cook Time Pr. Level Open 3 L or larger none 3 min High(2) Normal