Meatless Monday - Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
>> Monday, February 8, 2010
There is still time to enter the Equal Exchange Chocolate and Coffee gift bag giveaway! Hurry over to A Life Less Sweet Reviews for details!
I must admit, when I want to make spaghetti fast, I generally turn to a jar (Newman's Own Marinara to be exact). When I have lots of extra time, I'll make a delicious 3 hour meat-filled spaghetti sauce that the adults love, but my kids...not so much. My kids would so much rather have a meatless spaghetti sauce. Somehow, I managed to forget about my quick homemade spaghetti sauce along the way. Last week, I made it again and remembered how good and easy it is.
I came up with this recipe years and years ago. In the beginning, I was lucky enough to have an abundance of home-canned tomatoes from my husband's grandfather made from his home-grown tomatoes. Those tomatoes made the best sauce in the world. My mouth still craves them. Luckily, this sauce is still good with regular old store-bought canned tomatoes. I add a little soy sauce and balsamic vinegar to give the sauce a little depth. I also like to use fresh herbs, but you could use dried instead - just use less if you go the dried route.
The kids absolutely loved this spaghetti sauce. Next time, I think that I'll try replacing the sugar with a 1/4 cup of sweet potato instead. Oh - and don't be afraid to make extra! This sauce freezes beautifully!
Cathy's Quick Spaghetti Sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb 12 of canned crushed tomatoes
2-3 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 tsp sugar
2 TBSP tomato paste
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste
6 oz mushrooms, chopped
1-2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1-2 TBSP fresh basil, chopped
Saute the onion in a sauce pan for 3-5 min. Add pressed garlic and saute 1 minute more. Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Add next 7 ingredients (oregano through mushrooms). Simmer uncovered for 30-40 minutes until desired consistency is reached. Add salt to taste. Add remaining oregano and basil at last minute. Serve over spaghetti noodles.
I took a moment and used an immersion blender to puree the onion a bit after adding the crushed tomatoes. That step is completely unnecessary, but it made the sauce more appealing to my kids who have a thing about onion chunks.
6 comments:
Thanks Cathy. I think I need an immersion blender. Do you use yours a lot?
Amy - I don't use it a ton, but when I need it, I need it (if that makes any sense). It's very handy for blending things on the fly, making smoothies, and (if you get one with a whisk attachment) mixing up emulsions or puddings. I actually use my immersion blender A LOT more than I do my regular blender!
I really appreciate a good homemade meat sauce as much as the next person, but time usually doesn't permit that. I do like your recipe, so I'll give it a try when I have time! THANKS! :)
That sounds tasty! I never liked onion chunks as a kid, either :) Nice idea about the sweet potato replacing the sugar, too.
Hi, ur blog is really nice & informative, while reading ur blog I truly like ur recipe & definitely try at my home. I just wanna suggest that u should go for blog advertising & marketing there is a site which is offering very unique features at affordable prices there are expert advertising team who will promote ur blog & affiliate ads through all over the networks which will definitely boost ur traffic. Finally I have bookmarked ur blog & also shared this blog to my friends.. i think my friend might too like it hope u have a wonderful day & !!happy blogging!!.
This looks great but I am not sure how much canned crushed tomatoes to use, is it 1 lb 12 oz? Is that the same as a 28 oz (by volume) can? I have just discovered your blog and hope to come back often!
Post a Comment