photo via compfight.com
My kids love pasta – any shape, size, and form of it. They do not like cooked vegetables (except broccoli and corn on the cob, which doesn’t really count). I can get them to eat salads and cut up veggies most of the time, so I count my losses and move on. Still, when friends give me part of their bounty from the garden in the summertime, I can’t let all of those great veggies go to waste. So, I cook up a batch of pasta sauce to keep in the freezer. The best part? My house smells like I’m some amazing gourmet chef. Also, my kiddos get tons of extra veggies they wouldn’t get from canned sauce. Here’s what I do:
Red Sauce Recipe (adapted from Life as Mom)
1/2 an onion, diced
1 or two carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 a bell pepper, diced
1 zucchini or yellow squash (or both!) chopped
any other vegetable you would like to chop up and saute – go for it!
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 (28 oz cans) diced or crushed tomatoes (I blend it all up anyway, so it doesn’t matter)
salt and pepper
Italian seasoning or fresh herbs from your garden
olive oil for sauteing
In a medium skillet, saute diced veggies and garlic until just soft. Add to 4 qt. crock pot. Pour in tomatoes and top with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning to taste. Stir until combined and cook on warm or low for 8 hours. After cooking, carefully pour sauce into blender. Blend until sauce is smooth (or leave it chunky if you like it that way).
Serve what you need for your meal. Put the rest in freezable containers for your next pasta or pizza night!
