Simply Tomato Sauce

Spaghetti was not on the menu plan for last week, but I could see that Grace was getting bored with her usual chicken with mac 'n' cheese and spaghetti is always a good change for her.  She just loves slurping the noodles! 

I wasn't in the mood for a heavy meat sauce, so I looked over some recipes that I've been wanting to try for a while now and came across an easy tomato sauce recipe that I could hande without having to run send Joe to the store. 

Since I was wanting to keep things simple, I didn't make too many changes to the original recipe.  I added a green bell pepper since I needed to use it up.  And, since I never have fresh herbs in the refrigerator and haven't gotten around to planting that herb garden I wanted, so I had to use a few of the many dried herbs and spices that I can't seem to keep organized in my pantry. 

Here's what I used: 

Simply Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 3 cans (28oz each) Tuttorosso Italian-Style Plum Shaped Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup extra light Olive Oil
• 6 tsp. bottled minced garlic
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
• salt and pepper, to taste
• crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

• Cook diced onions and peppers in hot olive oil, until onions are translucent. 
• Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  (Be careful not to burn garlic or it will taste bitter.)
• Add the tomatoes.  Use a potato masher to crush the tomatoes as they cook. 
• Stir the ingredients together, until well combined. 
• Add the Italian Seasoning, along with the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. 
• Bring to boil. 
• Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about an hour. 
• Serve over your favorite pasta. 

When I first tasted the sauce, I wasn't sure how much I liked it.  By the end of dinner, I realized that I really enjoyed it.  It was just so different than our normal, meaty sauce.  After eating the leftovers for lunch today, I realize that this sauce is soooo much better the next day!  So, from now on, I'll be making a batch of this sauce the day before I plan to serve it for dinner. 

I served 1/2 cup of sauce over 1 cup of cooked spaghetti.  I also made a side salad and garlic breadsticks. 
By the time I finished my spaghetti and bread stick, I was too full to eat my salad. 

This made 7 cups of sauce.

1/2 cup sauce = 82 calories
1 cup spaghetti = 197 calories
1 garlic bread stick = 170 calories

Total meal = 449 calories


I'm linking this recipe to the following blog carnivals and linky parties: 

• Your Recipe, My Kitchen
• Just Another Meatless Monday
• Homemaker Mondays
• MMMmonday
• My Meatless Monday
• Mangia Mondays
• Tip Me Tuesdays
• Tuesdays Tasty Tidbits
• Delectable Tuesday
• Made From Scratch Tuesday
• Delicious Dishes