Homemade Tomato Based Pasta Sauce

Delicious Homemade Tomato Based Pasta Sauce, full of vegetable goodness

Hello and a very happy Meatless Monday!

I hope you had a great weekend and got your batteries all recharged to face this week. It was an eventful weekend for me. If you read my previous post you would know that I have decided to start selling my cookies. I have always hesitated to do so but have finally decided to go for it. I have been unemployed for more than a year now. I have lost count of how many rejections I have received from countless job applications. No wait, I do know how many as I have a special folder just for them. Anyway, as times are bad, I decided to start helping myself and I am hopeful that this negative can be turned into a positive! I figured I have nothing to lose. If you have any tips for me or if you have encountered such an experience before, do share them with me, I would love to hear from you.

Looks like tomato soup? Just thought it looks better here than in a jar!

Ok, enough of this self-help guru philosophising. Back to this Monday’s meatless recipe. This time, I am sharing a recipe for homemade tomato based pasta sauce. Have you ever made your own pasta sauce before? If you haven’t you should really give this a go as it tastes so much better than store bought jars with the added bonus that you know exactly what is going in it. Definitely more healthful and it is packed full of vegetables. You see, I really am trying to help you stick to your healthy/healthier resolutions this year. We all want to be better right?

Use this sauce for anything from adding into lasagnes or as a base for marinara pasta. It’s so easy to make and have on hand for quick weeknight pasta dishes. Remember, a good tasting pasta sauce is the foundation of a great tasting pasta dish. 

This recipe can yield 2 litres of pasta sauce. In kitchen goddess practical terms that means 12 portions. It may seem like a lot but you can easily store them in jars and keep them in the refrigerator or freezer, should you want to store them for longer. If freezing, just remove from the freezer the night before you intend to use it and it should thaw out nicely.

Recipe for Homemade Tomato Based Pasta Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes / Cooking Time 45 minutes / 2 liters (12 servings)

Ingredients

400gm Carrots

300gm Celery Sticks

1 Onion (Yellow)

4 tins of Whole Peeled Tomatoes / Chopped Tomatoes (1 tin = 400gm)

4-5 Fresh Basil Leaves

200ml Olive Oil

1 Tbsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

Method

1. Blend the vegetables in a food processor.

2. In a deep pot, pour in the olive oil and heat over medium-heat. Once hot, add in the blended vegetables and stir fry for 5 minutes. Next, add in the whole peeled tomatoes / chopped tomatoes, stir through evenly. Cover the pot and leave to simmer on medium low heat for 45 minutes. 

3. Add salt and pepper and simmer for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to cool before storing in jars.