October 18, 2017
Quick and Easy Spaghetti Sauce
Like many households where each night busy working parents rush their kids to after school activities and events, Spaghetti and tomato sauce is a quick and “kid approved” dinner option. But, who knew spaghetti sauce in the jar had so much sugar, saturated fat and added salt!? Not to mention, most brands do not use organic tomatoes which may mean in many cases they were grown using GMO seeds, insecticides, pesticides and herbicides.
While I was satisfied in knowing my children were at least eating some sort of vegetable (thank goodness), a vegetable containing vitamins and minerals, as well as cancer fighting and immune boosting lycopene, I knew the sauce needed to be healthier. Unfortunately, the thought of making the sauce in my small kitchen seemed to be a far-stretched dream as I knew I just didn’t have the space or the time. Until, the day came when I realized how quick and easy it could really be!
The day went like this. I went to the market and bought a very small bushel of local tomatoes. Then they sat on my counter for a few days until I had the time to use them! They sat for a few more days and I thought “I better use these”. When I finally did, I cut each tomato in half, placed them on a baking sheet (cut side up), drizzled them with some olive oil, added some basil, garlic and salt and pepper and threw them in the oven. I let them bake for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees. My lips stretched into a smile as I began smelling the lovely aroma of baked garlic and basil spread through my ‘small’ kitchen.
Once the tomatoes had a chance to cool for a few minutes, they went into my high power blender for a quick spin. I like my sauce a bit chunky so 2-3 pulses did the trick. As a bonus for the kids, and to give it a bit of a creamy texture, I threw in some shredded cheese I had in the fridge.
And VOILA – sauce is served, just like that! The whole process took me about 35 minutes, which I basically needed to cook the whole grain noodles anyway.
While this experiment in my kitchen may seem quite juvenile, to me it was a feat! I CAN make a healthy sauce and I CAN do it quickly! And so can you! Here’s how:
Ingredients
- 5-10 tomatoes (depending how much sauce you need)
- Olive oil
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced (I love garlic)
- Dried Basil, salt & pepper to taste
- Shredded cheese such as mozzarella, cheddar, feta or parmesan
Optional
- Chopped onion, carrots, celery or any vegetable you want!
- Infused Olive oil such as Italian, Sundried Tomato, garlic, Parmesan (possibility are endless)
Directions
- Cut each tomato in half and remove the seeds and stems
- Place on a baking sheet (cut side up)
- Drizzled tomatoes with olive oil
- Sprinkle tomatoes with basil, garlic, salt and pepper
- Place in oven and bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes
- Allow tomatoes to cool for a few minutes, then pulse in blender
- Stir in cheese if desired
- Place on top of whole grain, brown rice or chickpea noodles and serve
Enjoy!
