The Sauce

If there is one meal I can get my picky eaters to all agree on it's spaghetti with tomato sauce. While it's simple to open a jar from the grocery store, this one tastes 100 times better and in my opinion is worth the effort. Not that much is needed in this easy to make sauce. The good news is this sauce is guilt free! This oil free sauce is great on veggies or with pasta. You can also make this salt free by using no salt added tomato paste and crushed tomatoes.



~Ingredients

• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• 2 (28 oz) cans of crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

In a large saucepan ( I used my 5 qt stockpot) add tomato paste and minced garlic. Cook on medium high heat while stirring continuously for 3 to 4 minutes. This will help soften garlic and reduce some of the acidity in the tomato paste.

Reduce heat to medium low and whisk in vegetable broth.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes or maximum of 4 hours.  If you have time to simmer the sauce longer it will develop a richer flavor and is worth the extra effort.

 *You can make this in the crock-pot but don't skip sauteing the garlic and tomato paste first. When I make my crock-pot version I cook on low for 4 hours. If your crock-pot runs hot like mine does I sometimes put mine on the keep warm setting and leave it for up to 8 hrs.