Pasta Sauce...Easy as 1-2-3!

Last week, I told you how I make my own tomato sauce and freeze it. Click here to re-read the post. Here's how to make a simple and nutritious dinner in a few minutes!
Meghan's Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/2 carrot, grated
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 t dried parsley
1/2 t dried basil
1/2 t dried oregano
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1-2 T tomato paste (if you like thicker sauce, if not, omit)
1/2-1 t salt
1 t sugar

Easy as 1-2-3!

1. Heat a medium saucepan on medium. Add in olive oil. Dice up onion and add to the pan.
2. Sautee for a few minutes, then add in pressed garlic, grated carrots, and the three Italian spices. Cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add the can of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste (optional), salt and sugar. Lower the heat to low, stir, cover and cook for about 30 minutes. Make sure you stir the sauce a few times.
   

To Freeze and Reheat

Sometimes, I like to make a double batch of tomato sauce. If so, I take half the cooled sauce and place it in a quart sized freezer bag. Then, when I am ready to use it, I place the bag into a bowl of hot water and let it defrost. Once it is defrosted enough to remove, I pour it into a saucepan and reheat. Easy!

Cheaper and Healthier

Depending on what brand of sauce your family enjoys, making it yourself can be much more cost effective. Other than the can of tomato sauce, you probably have all the other ingredients on hand weekly. It took me a few years of fiddling with the recipe to get it right (and for my husband to like it!), but now I make this whenever we eat pasta. A few famous TV Chefs inspired me along the way - Mario Batali and Buddy Valastro (did you watch Kitchen Boss? I loved it!).

It is also a healthier option than store-bought sauce. Many jars of pasta sauce have added ingredients that aren't good for you, like preservatives and extra salt, to name a few.

Happy Cooking! I hope this works out for you.