Homemade Pasta Sauce

I was going to make pasta for dinner this week and got the sudden urge to not buy sauce, but instead make my own. Sadly, I still have not received tomatoes in my CSA, so I went and bought some organic ones at the market. I had some yummy basil from my CSA and I couldn't wait to use it up!


Homemade Pasta Sauce
2 lb Plum tomatoes, peeled*
1 red onion, chopped
1 head garlic, roasted**
3 small carrots, peeled and chopped
1 C fresh basil, chopped
2 T dried oregano
2 T olive oil

2-3 C Vegetable Stock
1/4 C red wine (optional)
1 small bunch of basil
2 garlic scapes
1 T olive oil
2 T Nutritional Yeast

In large sauce pan heat oil over medium heat, then add onions and carrots and saute 5-7 minutes. Add basil tomatoes (whole), and garlic cloves, then cover with stock - don't make it too liquidy, just enough to cover tomatoes. Add red wine and stir thoroughly. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, drop down to low and simmer as long as you can until the tomatoes break down. Ideally you would slow simmer for 6 - 8 hours, stirring often and breaking apart the tomatoes. Once the sauce is done, set to cool for an hour. In a food processor, add scapes, basil and olive oil, then process until smooth. Add 1/2 the sauce and process on low just until smooth, not completely though, with small chunks. Place in bowl. Add rest of unprocessed sauce to processor and nutritional yeast and process on medium until a bit smoother than the last batch. Add to bowl and mix together thoroughly. Reheat when ready to use.

*To peel a tomato, place them in boiling water for about 10 minutes until skin starts to crack. Shock them with cold water and peel off the skin with your hands.

**Slice off the top of garlic exposing the tips of the cloves. Place in baking dish and drizzle with oil. Bake 15 minutes at 400 until garlic tops turn golden brown. Remove from oven and using a fork or some other small point, pop out the roasted garlic cloves