Foraging Fridays Post 1: Homemade Tomato Sauce

At the end of each week, I am notorious for having plenty of vegetables leftover.  There’s nothing I dislike more than wasting food but what are we supposed to do with those tomatoes that are too ripe for a salad, or those mushrooms that are looking a little past their prime? Easy – we make a simple tomato sauce sure to impress! Canned sauces can hold a lot of sugar anyways, plus it’s always better to brag that you made your sauce from scratch.

What You Need:

Tomatoes – usually 3-4 overripe tomatoes is plenty
Minced Garlic
Onion
Salt and Pepper
Chili Flakes (I like mine a little spicy)
Can of tomato paste
Olive Oil

What else do you have?
Carrots
Mushrooms
Peppers
Basil
Oregano
Other preferred spices? Italian Seasonings, maybe?

What To Do:

Add the Olive Oil to the bottom of your sauce pan, cook the garlic until fragrant.  Cut the tomatoes in half, add them along with all of the other ingredients into a pot.  I can usually fit everything into a larger sauce pan.  Make sure to have a lid.

Cook for about 10-15 minutes with the lid on – on medium heat.  The vegetables should sweat and the tomatoes along with the paste will start to boil.  Once all of the vegetables are soft you have two options for blending; immersion blender or regular blender.

If you are using an immersion blender, you can mix the sauce right in the pot – this is my preferred method.  If you are using a regular blender, simply transfer the ingredients into the blender and blend until the sauce is the consistency you prefer.  I personally like my sauce a little chunky, so I don’t blend it until it is fully smooth.

Do you prefer meat in your sauce? Brown some Ground beef, Italian Sausage, or Ground Turkey in a pan and add it in after blending.

Put everything back into the sauce pan (if you had removed it) and taste.  Add salt, spices, or pepper to your liking and cook on medium heat until the sauce has thickened.

I typically jar the sauce and keep it in the fridge up to a week with meat – it will last a little longer if you do not add meat to it.

Quick Dinner:

Put the sauce over your favorite type of pasta for a quick dinner.  My favorite is zucchini noodles that I make on Sundays with my Kitchen-aid attachment and keep in the fridge for a quick dinner later in the week.  The sauce is also great for lasagnas, pizzas, or as a dipping sauce.