We all pledge to eat a little healthier in the new year, which usually means getting more fruits, vegetables and grains on the plate at dinnertime.

Yet, creating a meal where vegetables not only play a starring role, but actually whet one’s appetite, can prove vexing for some home cooks.

This veggie-packed pasta dish with Tuscan roots is a flavorful step in the right direction.

Born out of peasant kitchens where meat was often beyond a family’s means, sugo finto — which translates to “fake sauce” — is testament to the cooks who had to be creative and inventive, using what they could afford and what was on hand.

As rich in flavor as a traditional meat sauce, this one is built using fresh mushrooms, garlic, tomato paste and a good glug of inexpensive red wine.

It also includes mirepoix — that magical mix of carrots, onions and celery cooked in fat (here, olive oil) that sweetens and deepens the flavor of so many dishes.

In Tuscany and throughout Southern Italy, sugo finto is typically served over a fat, hand-rolled pasta called pici.

I spooned it over homemade fettuccine and garnished the dish with lots (and lots) of grated Parmesan. I also added toasted bread crumbs tossed with parsley and grated Parmesan for extra crunch.