Don’t you just love summer with all the delicious vegetables to choose from? This homemade spaghetti sauce is a nutritional powerhouse with it’s combination of fresh basil and tomatoes.
Tomatoes are a source of lycopene, antioxidants and even promote heart health, strong bones and even help protect you from cancer with their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Pasta sauce seems to be a great way to sneak in lots of extra vegetable servings, especially for people who are not big vegetable lovers.
Basil is actually in the mint family and boasts antibacterial and antiinfamatory properties. It is also said to help with stomach cramps and indigestion.
This simple pasta sauce incorporates onions, italian herbs, freshly diced tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste and italian sausage. This is a base recipe. You can easily incorporate other vegetables that your family enjoys such as mushrooms, eggplant, carrots or zucchini.
Homemade pasta sauce is delicious served over brown rice pasta or buckwheat pasta. If you are trying to cut down on grains you can also serve it over spaghetti squash, which is one of my favorite ways to eat it.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 onions
- 5 cups diced canning tomatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- pepper to taste (I used about 15 turns of the grinder)
- 8 ounces tomato paste
- 1 pound italian sausage, cooked
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté until tender.
- Add remaining ingredients (reserving sausage).
- Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer for 20-60 minutes. The longer you simmer the more richly the flavors will develop.
- Stir in sausage just before serving.
Looks delicious!
Thanks :)
I love how simple this is! I bet it would even work in the slow cooker.
Great idea, Lauren! You’d just have to cook the meat in a skillet and possibly the onions if you want them caramelized.
That looks so yummy! I will be trying this soon…our tomatoes are coming on like MAD right now! I LOVE your site:) I am also very into all natural and organic food…so I will be poking around a bit;) Thanks for the recipe!!
Don’t you just love tomatoes fresh from the vine? Hope you enjoy the recipe, Jesse and find more stuff to make :) Have a blessed day!
What a fantastic pasta sauce! Love all the fresh ingredients!
Stopping by from Whole Foods Wednesday (I posted a Watermelon and Cucumber Smoothie – #34)
Pinned.
Amber @ The Cook’s Sister
Thanks, Amber! Fresh ingredients make all the difference!
i’m with jesse – not that i have a ton of tomatoes because i didn’t plant any this year due to a move across the country but in that i will be trying this soon :) simple tomato/pasta sauce makes my little heart happy and i get as much of it as i can whilst tomatoes are still in season :)
p.s. it’s The Wednesday Fresh Foods Blog Hop today and i adore your post. it’s exactly what we’re looking for! you’re welcome to stop by and link up if you like! we’d love to have you!
Hi, I’m stopping by from Teach me Tuesday’s blog hop! This pasta sauce looks great and just what I’m looking for! Thanks for sharing!