Jacked Up Pasta Sauce

I got the idea from this sauce from two places. First, a tomato soup recipe from Ellie Krieger’s “The Food You Crave” that called for pureed carrots in addition to tomatoes and second, from Angela over at Oh She Glows who uses a similar method to add extra vegetable servings to regular jarred pasta sauce. I love this recipe because it’s great for A) clearing out your veggie crisper and B) jacking up your veggie intake for the day. Since Brian and I are leaving for Oregon tomorrow, it was the perfect way to get rid of some extra produce I had lying around (and compensate for the amount of eating out we will be doing!).

I started with Krieger’s Easy Tomato Sauce recipe (I use an immersion blender to smooth it out – I don’t like chunks!). I had used half of it on pizza last week and it was languishing away in my fridge. I knew it wouldn’t be enough for pasta on its own, so I pureed 1 carrot, 1 red bell pepper, and ½ can of garbanzo beans left over from last night’s salad. I added the puree to the sauce and heated it over the stove top with about ½ lb of chopped crimini mushrooms and a little water to thin it out. Meanwhile, I crumbled and then sautéed two spicy Italian sausages.

I divided the sauce and added the sausages to Brian’s half. We ate it on top of whole wheat spaghetti with some warm ciabatta bread out on the patio. Quick, easy, and healthy!

I'll be back later tonight with some of the baking and other prep I've been doing today to get us ready to road trip up to Oregon tomorrow AM!