Homemade Tomato Sauce

*I can hardly take pictures of people let alone food. So I'm posting a recipe with no pictures. Gasp.*

I came across a recipe in the Parenting Early Years magazine for a veggie loaded tomato sauce. These types of recipes don't usually interest me, but for some reason this one did. I read through it a couple times, thought about it a lot and finally decided to try it.

My confidence in this was very low. I bought the ingredients and then took them to my Mom's house to make it. Next time I could do it by myself though!

Jeremy gave the sauce two thumbs up and Aliza scarfed her spaghetti down with no hesitation. I was quite proud. It was a "good Mama" moment. I'll make it again. I'm hoping that I can thicken it up a bit to be a homemade pizza sauce since we have pizza every Friday night.

It was certainly not economical to buy veggies instead of spaghetti sauce in a can, but maybe my Grandad's garden will produce lots of veggies this summer and I can make some to freeze. Oh! Then I would feel like a really great Mennonite Mama. hahah.

The Best Tomato Sauce Ever
(by Jamie Oliver)

Roughly chop:

• 2 small onions
• 1 small leek (wash thoroughly of sand)
• 2 stalks celery
• 2 red bell peppers

Grate:

• 2 zucchinis
• 2 carrots

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, followed by all your chopped and grated veggies. Add a large pinch of dried oregano and 2 bay leaves, then cook slowly, stirring occasionally for 20 minutes with the lid on, or until the vegetables are soft but not starting to brown. Meanwhile...

Peel and grate 1 butternut squash. Add it to the vegetables.

Add:

• 4 (14.5 oz.) cans of plum tomatoes with juice
• 2 cups water
• a pinch of sea salt
• and freshly ground black pepper

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes, or until squash is soft. Spoon out bay leaves and let the sauce cool slightly before blitzing with a stick blender until smooth (or blender or food processor). Makes 13 cups.

I'm sure you can make all kinds of modifications to this recipe. I didn't know what an acorn squash was and got a small yellow one. I used more celery than called for. I also bought diced tomatoes already seasoned with basil and oregano. I did not add any other spices. I also added a small can of tomato paste. Next time I will add more tomato paste.