Homemade Pasta Sauce (Sugar free)

One of the greatest things about gardening is being able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. I always grow more tomatoes than I can handle, and my favorite thing to do with them is to make this delicious pasta sauce. I truly have never enjoyed a sauce so delicious in my life. This recipe was inspired by wellnessmama.com, and it is my go-to recipe every year. I would highly recommend trying it on some spaghetti squash as a healthy alternative to pasta. When I have a big harvest of tomatoes, it’s not uncommon for me to quadruple this recipe (and boy does the kitchen smell good). Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 5 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled and seeded (see instructions on this below)

• 3 medium onions, diced

• 8 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 carrot, cut in half

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 1/3 cup fresh basil, finely chopped (or 8 tsp dried basil)

• 1 sprig* fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped (or ½ tsp dried thyme)

• 1 sprig fresh oregano, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried oregano)

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 sprigs fresh parsley, finely chopped (or 1 tsp dried parsley)

• 1 tsp sea salt

*1 sprig is generally defined as a 4-inch piece of fresh herb.

Instructions

Boiling water and ice bath setup for easily peeling tomatoes.

1. Peel and seed the tomatoes and set aside. To peel fresh tomatoes, cut a small "x" on the bottom and drop into boiling water for 30 seconds and then drop into an ice bath. The skin will easily peel off.

2. Chop the onion, mince the garlic, and grate half of the carrot.

3. Pour the olive oil into a large stockpot over medium heat.

4. When hot, add the diced onions to the olive oil and saute for 5 minutes.

5. Add the garlic and grated carrot and saute for 2-3 minutes longer or until onions are translucent and tender.

6. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, and sea salt.

7. Simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours or until cooked down and starting to darken.

8. Add carrot piece for the last 30 minutes to absorb acidity.

9. Remove bay leaves, and piece of carrot.

10. Add the basil, thyme, oregano, and parsley as you are in the final minutes of cooking down. Stir the sauce to evenly distribute the herbs.

11. Optional: Use an immersion blender to puree sauce until smooth (for a thicker sauce, skip this step).

12. Use fresh or store in the refrigerator up to 1 week. If you decide to can this product, I would recommend pressure canning according to your canner's instructions for tomato products. This recipe is not guaranteed to be acidic enough for water bath canning.