Making spaghetti sauce from scratch is surprisingly easy, and not surprisingly, delicious (especially if made with locally grown or homegrown tomatoes). While this dish takes a little bit of time to prepare, it takes very little skill. I recommend to double (or even triple) this recipe for lots of leftovers with little additional effort. The extra sauce can be thrown in your freezer for another day. Now that I have spoiled my family by making this sauce with tomatoes from our garden, I am going to have to load up at the next farmer’s market and freeze enough sauce to last us until the next tomato season. Wish me luck with that one!
Also, if you think your kids will detect and detest the veggies in this sauce then try puréeing them in the food processor for a better disguise. Or you could just leave them out and increase the onion if necessary. My kids like it when I serve a side of garlic toast (whole-wheat toast topped with butter & garlic powder and toasted) with this dish.
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes (or 2 cups canned plum tomatoes with juice)
- 2/3 cup chopped carrot
- 2/3 cup chopped celery
- 2/3 cup chopped onion
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, to taste
- 1 to 1 ½ pounds cooked whole-wheat pasta
- Optional: ground beef, turkey, sausage, and/or diced mushrooms
- Parmesan cheese
- If using fresh tomatoes drop them into boiling water for 1 minute. Drain them and peel off the skin (when they are cool enough to handle). Once they have been boiled the skin comes off very easily (pictured). Cut canned or fresh tomatoes into coarse piece and reserve juice.
- Add the tomatoes with juice, chopped carrot, celery and onion to a large saucepan on low heat. Cook uncovered at a slow simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the olive oil and bring sauce to a slightly stronger simmer for 15 more minutes. Stir frequently and mash tomatoes with the back of a spoon.
- Taste and add salt as needed. I usually add a bit of salt myself.
- Combine with cooked ground beef, ground turkey, sausage, diced mushrooms and/or fresh or dried herbs if desired and serve over whole-wheat pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese.
Yield: 4 – 5 servings
I have a question unrelated to this recipe, but related to pasta in general. For pasta dishes that are cream-based, what would you use for the cream, to make it an “approved” pasta dish? I just love those cream pasta dishes, and usually stay clear of them in general, but there HAS to be a healthy alternative!
Cream is technically not “highly processed” therefore it is okay to still use. I would just use it in moderation. There are many ways to define eating “healthy” (I will address this in a future blog post) and those on a “low fat” diet may avoid cream all together. I don’t really see cutting out processed foods as a diet though it is a more of a new lifestyle where cream is acceptable, but should be used in moderation (just like natural sweeteners, oils, etc.). I hope that helps!
Yes, it helps, thank you!
To me, this sounds more like a vegetable sauce than a traditional marinara or “spaghetti” sauce. Here’s how I make mine:
1 medium onion, diced
1 large clove garlic, minced
28 oz can Muir Glen tomato puree
1/2 cup red wine
Fresh basil from my garden
Salt & Pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
Saute onion in oil until softened, add garlic and cook for a minute. Add wine and cook until almost all the liquid is gone. Add tomatoes, basil, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Sometimes I add a pat of butter or two at the end – it really rounds out the flavors and mellows the sauce if it’s too acidic. I also like to add chopped fresh tomatoes, if they are available from my garden. I add them when I add the puree.
This sauce is amazing! It’s honestly the best marinara sauce my husband and I have ever had. We use it for pasta as well as pizza sauce.
Yes, you are right it is more of a vegetable tomato sauce. I guess being a mom of little ones I am always trying to fit veggies in whenever I can! I just printed your recipe and look forward to trying it as well. Thank you!
Lisa, I am really loving your blog! I found it on a Food Inc fb post! i was inspired by you and made whole wheat asparagus pancakes with ww flour, baking powder, fresh locally grown asparagus, organic eggs, organic grass fed skim milk, salt pepper and organic cheddar cheese. I used ffree greek yogurt with tequilla lime seasoning i got from whole foods to dip. YUMMY! Did I get all the rules right? Ok now that I have gotten off track, let me get back to my original question…I have tons of home grown Rutgers tomatoes, can I make “gravy” with that too?
Thank you for the comment and it sounds like you are on the right track with all of your ingredients! Also, I think any variety of tomatoes would be good in the sauce it would probably just slightly alter the end result depending on what you use. Any homegrown tomatoes would be delicious in there though!
Thank you for the comment and it sounds like you are on the right track with all of your ingredients! Also, I think any variety of tomatoes would be good in the sauce it would probably just slightly alter the end result depending on what you use. Any homegrown tomatoes would be delicious in there though!
A good alternative for a “creamy sauce” is tofutti sour cream with herbs/cheese…it is a lot better for you while adding in the cream you so desire.
Do you have a recipe you can share?