Secretly Stuffed-With-Veggies Fettuccini With Tomato Cream Sauce

Because the goal of my life, of course, is to secretly ferret vegetables down the throat of my husband without his knowledge, I am proud of a recent delicious and successful meal I served, in which he had no knowledge of the amount of healthy vegetables consumed. And I'd like to keep it that way.

I made a simple roux with Earth Balance margarine and flour, and added to that vegetable stock and almond milk, which makes a really nice cream sauce base. To that I added a couple of slices of light Edam cheese, black pepper, salt, red pepper flakes and tomato paste cut with water. It was the most delicious tomato cream sauce I have ever made, and it has almost no saturated fat.

But the vegetable stock does not comprise all the vegetables I have snuck in here. I found a Ronzoni brand fettuccine product called Garden Delight, which is an enriched tomato, carrot and spinach pasta blend, that purports to deliver a full serving of vegetables per 4 oz. serving. It paired really well with the creamy tomato sauce. Sprinkled with parmigiana, there is no way anyone will think this dish is made with anything other than heavy cream and full fat cheese. This really is a must-try! Tomorrow night!

1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp margarine (I use Earth Balance)
1 to 1 and 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup almond milk or MimicCreme
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp black pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes
2-3 tbsp tomato paste, diluted in 3-5 tbsp warm water

1 box Ronzoni Garden Delight Fettuccini, prepared according to package directions.

Combine the flour and margarine in a hot, wide-bottomed saucepan and mix until you have the consistency of paste. Cook until bubbly, about 30-40 seconds, then add the vegetable stock, a little at a time, and keep mixing until smooth. Continue adding almond milk slowly and whisk as it cooks. When it reaches a boil, it should be ready. You will know it is ready when the sauce nicely coats the back of the spoon. Remove from flame. Add the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and correct the seasoning. Add two slices or 1 oz. of light cheese (I use Edam), and mix in the diluted tomato paste. Turn flame back on, to low this time, and add the cooked pasta and toss in the sauce until all the fettuccine is coated. Dust with parmigiana cheese and serve immediately to people who hate vegetables, but who will ask for this again and again.