I recently created my Raw Italian Feast for a group retreat at the lodge. The group was relatively new to raw foods so I knew the Italian Feast would be the perfect way to introduce them to living cuisine.  The recipes I used were from my recipe e-book, they are simple and straight forward recipes that recreate perfectly every time.

The menu:

Spinach Salad with Italian Vinaegrette

"Baked" Manicotti with Sausage, Spinach and Garlic Cheese

Spaghetti with Crumbled Sausage & Parmesan Cheeze

Carrot Cake

 This is one of my favorite raw meals, the marinara is incredible... I like to eat it as soup! It can be served with kelp noodles or zucchini noodles. Here's the recipe for you to create my classic sweet tomato marinara. If you are interested in the entire Raw Italian Feast, visit the "Shoppe" and purchase the entire e-book for $11.11.

Padmapani's Sweet Tomato Marinara

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes*

3 cups water

3-4 tbsp. raw honey

1/8 cup cashews (optional for creaminess)

2 tbsp. dried basil

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. onion powder

1 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

*some sun-dried tomatoes are dried with salt, others are not. Check the “ingredients” section on your package of tomatoes to determine if they come with, or without salt. If your sun-dried tomatoes do contain salt then follow the recipe as is. If your sun-dried tomatoes do NOT contain salt, add an additional 1/2 tsp. of sea salt to the recipe.

1. Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in 3 cups of water for at least 30 minutes.

2. Pour the tomatoes, the 3 cups of soak water, and the remaining ingredients into a high speed blender. Puree until smooth and creamy.

The recipe will yield about 32 ounces of sauce. Store sauce in a glass jar in the fridge, sauce will last for about 7 days.

Enjoy!