So yesterday, while I was making my pesto, I also decided to put the large mound of tomatoes to good use and whip up some homemade spaghetti sauce. I basically wanted to spend Monday putting together these bases for other dishes. Between pesto and spaghetti sauce, I can do pasta, pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, grilled chicken and veggies in pesto, eggplant Parmesan, the list goes on. Dedicating one morning to making those two things, basically did all the menu planning for me. Sweet!
Homemade spaghetti sauce is something I recommend everyone try. Especially right now while tomatoes are so delicious and ripe and perfect. It's something you can freeze for those pink tomato months, also known as winter. It takes a little while to cook, but doesn't require a lot of hands on time. The smell is amazing and stays in your house for a good day in a half. Which is pretty nice for me. I'd much rather have my house smell like Little Italy than diapers, is all I'm sayin.
Tomato Basil Spaghetti Sauce
- 8-10 medium ripe tomatoes
- 3 tblsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 bell pepper, chopped
- 4 cloves of minced garlic
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 tsp oregano
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 stalks of celery
- 2 tblsp tomato paste
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Have a large bowl of ice water ready. Place whole tomatoes in the boiling water and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place immediately in ice water. Let rest until cool enough to handle. Remove the peel and squeeze out the seeds. Chop 6-8 tomatoes and puree in a blender. Chop the remaining tomatoes and set aside.
In a large pot, over medium heat, cook garlic, onion, bell pepper, and carrots in olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, basil, oregano, and wine. Place bay leaf and whole celery stalks in the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, and simmer for about 2 hours. Stir in tomato paste and simmer for another hour. Discard celery and bay leaf and serve.
Zucchini noodles are incredibly easy and delicious. They get rid of those carbs you'd feel guilty about with regular pasta, they have a nice crunch to them, and they add such great color and flavor to the otherwise traditional spaghetti. There are several ways to make these noodles. You can use a vegetable peeler and get long ribbons of pasta, you could use a mandolin, a julienne peeler (which would be the best tool here...I don't have one, but if you do, go crazy with it!), or just cut the noodles with a knife, which is what I did.
Zucchini Noodles
- 3-4 medium zucchini
- large pot of salted, boiling water
Bring salted water to a boil. Cut zucchini lengthwise, into four parts, getting rid of the middle of the zucchini, where the seeds are. Use a peeler, a mandolin, or a knife, to cut long noodles. After noodles are prepared, drop in salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes and drain and serve.
For the chicken meatballs, I used the Martha method I talked about here to turn my chicken breast into ground chicken. But you can use ground turkey or chicken already packaged from the store. I just didn't have it, so I had to get creative.
Lean Chicken Parmesan Meatballs
- 1lb ground turkey or chicken
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs or panko (I used panko...cuz I love me some panko, dawg)
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tblsp chopped parsley
- 2 tblsp olive oil
Combine chicken, egg, bread crumbs, Parmesan, garlic, and parsley in a bowl. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet. Once the oil is good and hot (when the oil gets fragrant), roll chicken mixture into golf ball sized balls and fry in the oil on all sides until cooked through. Drain on a paper towel and serve.
Note: This recipe will make 15 or so meatballs. You can freeze the leftover meatballs on a parchment lined baking sheet and pull out a few anytime you want to make this dish. Look at that. I just gave you awesome leftovers. You're welcome.
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