I have been making slight variations of this basic but versatile pasta sauce for over 20 years when I had my first daughter and needed ways to get more veggies into her! This serves as a pasta sauce blended real smooth or a bit grainy. It serves as a base for my Creamy Tomato Soup or for other chicken or pasta dishes. Make a huge batch and freeze in dinner sized portions for a real quick dinner plan!

Ingredients

All quantities are up to you – change it up to vary the final taste slightly.

• Onions
• Celery
• Carrots
• Garlic
• Tomatoes – fresh or POMI chopped tomatoes or San Marzano tomatoes
• Tomato paste (to enhance the fresh tomatoes as needed)
• Apple for sweetness (optional)
• Water or vegetable broth (watch that sodium!)
• Wine (optional)
• Herbs – oregano/basil/bay leaf (prefer fresh but dried is ok too)
• Red chili flakes
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method

• Start with a generous amount of olive oil in a heavy bottom sauté pan.
• Sauté the onions, celery and carrots till they start to sweat.
• Add the garlic and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add the wine if using to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
• Then add the tomatoes (whatever types you are using) and the herbs.
• Now add the apples (if using), water or broth to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about an hour till the vegetables are all really soft. It should smell divine!
• Let cool a bit and blend to the consistency you like. Or you can just freeze as is in dinner sized portions for future meals.

This sauce has no added salt – so it is a blank canvas for whatever recipe you use it in! So next time you are feeling saucy, just get into the kitchen and whip up a huge batch of the basic but versatile pasta sauce. Bonus: It’s freezer friendly too. Enjoy!