Spaghetti Sauce

My family eats a LOT of spaghetti – it’s nutritious, it’s easy, and the kids love it. I have to admit, spaghetti is usually one of our “hurry-up” meals, so I tend to use a store bought jar of spaghetti sauce 99% of the time! However, we just got back from a trip to visit my grandparents, and they sent us home with a big box of delicious home-grown tomatoes, fresh-picked from their garden! So tonight our family was in for a treat — homemade spaghetti sauce.

Here’s a good, basic spaghetti sauce recipe:

Ingredients:

• 6-8 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped*
• 1 medium onion (or 2 small), finely chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 6-oz can tomato paste
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 tsp dried parsley**
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp natural sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt or to taste
• freshly ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-based pot. Add onions and garlic, and sautee over medium heat until tender. Add water, tomatoes, tomato paste, dried herbs, sugar, salt, and pepper. Mix well and bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 30 minutes (longer is fine).

Uncover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes, or until sauce has reduced to the desired consistency. Spoon over a pile of whole wheat spaghetti*** and enjoy!

* To peel tomatoes easily, make a small criss cross mark on each tomato with a sharp knife. Bring a pot of water to a boil and dunk each tomato into the water for about 30 seconds. Immediately transfer to a collander and rinse with cold water. When tomatoes are cool enough to handle, you should be able to peel the skin right off!

**If you have fresh herbs on hand, by all means use them! You’ll need about 3 times the amount of fresh herbs as dry, and rather than adding them at the beginning, add them toward the end of the cooking time so that they retain their wonderful flavor!

***If you haven’t yet discovered whole wheat pasta, I really recommend it.  Whole grain pasta contains more fiber, protein, folic acid, and b-vitamins than white flour pasta.  In fact, a serving of whole wheat pasta has as much protein as a serving of almonds or peanut butter (7 grams)!  I get mine from Trader Joe’s, as it only costs about $1/pound for organic, whole-wheat pasta, and they carry most shapes — spaghetti, fettuccine, rotini, and penne. You can also find whole wheat pasta at most major supermarkets, though they may be more expensive.  The texture of whole wheat pasta takes a bit of getting used to, but after eating it for several years now, I actually prefer it to the white flour version!

Butternut Squash Soup

Fall seems to be officially here in the Pacific Northwest, and I am so excited! Fall is my favorite season, hands-down! One of the many reasons I love fall is winter squash. Pumpkins, acorn squash, butternut squash, you name it! Butternut Squash was one of the first foods I pureed for my kids when they were babies, and I frequently snuck bites for myself. I’ll post the recipe for butternut squash soup that I made today, but I have to admit that I rarely make it the same way twice! All you really need is a butternut squash and some vegetable broth – it can be as simple as that, delicious in its simplicity. Or you can experiment with different spices — here I used traditional nutmeg, allspice, and cinnamon, but sometimes I’ll go with cumin and red pepper. I’ve added soy milk and Earth Balance margarine here for an extra rich and creamy soup. Snuggle up inside on a cold day and enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium to large butternut squash
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup soy milk (optional)
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
• 2 Tbsp Earth Balance margarine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut butternut squash in half lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds. Place halves face-down on a baking sheet or casserole dish, and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate halves face-up, prick with a fork, and bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until tender.*

Set squash aside until it is cool enough to handle. With a spoon, scoop the squash out of the skin and into a large soup pot. Add vegetable broth and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.  Use an immersion blender to blend the soup until smooth.** Stir in spices, soy milk, earth balance, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Enjoy!

* You can bake the squash a day or two in advance and store it in the refrigerator until it is needed, for a faster prep time.

** If you don’t own an immersion blender, go out and buy one! Seriously, though, you can blend this soup in batches in a traditional blender. You will need to be very careful while handling the hot liquid, and may want to wear oven mitts while blending, just in case of any splattering! An immersion blender is generally not too pricey and will be well worth your money if you enjoy smooth and creamy soups – it will take only a minute to blend and is much less messy than using the regular blender!