Hidden Veggie Pasta Sauce
by: claire cary
No need to be intimidated by homemade vegan pasta sauce! This recipe is filled with hidden vegetables, flavor and is so easy to make. It's freezer friendly and totally kid approved.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large white onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 large carrots diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 1 red bell pepper diced
- 1 medium zucchini chopped
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 28 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
- 1 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese optional
- ¼ cup fresh basil optional but recommended
Instructions
- Dice the onion and add to a pot with the olive oil. Saute for 5 minutes or until golden.
- Add the minced garlic, diced celery and carrot. Saute an additional 5 or so minutes.
- Add in the diced bell pepper and zucchini and saute for 5 minutes.
- Add in the red wine if using and let simmer until the liquid has evaporated.
- Add in all remaining ingredients (aside from the basil and parmesan if using). Cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
- Carefully transfer to a blender with the basil (mine is 64 ounces and can hold everything, but you may need to do this in two batches). You can also use an immersion blender.
- Blend until completely smooth. When blending hot liquids, it helps to start the blender on the lowest possible setting and slowly work up, keeping the center part of the lid slightly ajar so heat can escape.
- Taste and adjust flavors as desired, then stir in the parmesan and basil.
- Serve with your favorite pasta or let cool and transfer to a jar and store in the fridge or freezer.
Notes
If you want to make this more of a creamy tomato sauce, you can blend in 1/2 cup of soaked, then drained and rinsed cashews right into the sauce. You may need to add in a bit of vegetable broth to thin it out.
Serving: 0.5cup / Calories: 111kcal / Carbohydrates: 8g / Protein: 1g / Fat: 7g / Saturated Fat: 1g / Fiber: 2g / Sugar: 4g
