Veggie-Loaded Tomato Pasta (Printable Version)

A rich tomato sauce blended with puréed vegetables for a nutritious pasta topping.

# What You Need:

→ Vegetables

01 - 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
02 - 1 small zucchini, chopped
03 - 1 red or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
04 - 1 small onion, chopped
05 - 2 cloves garlic, minced
06 - 1 celery stalk, chopped

→ Tomato Base

07 - 2 cans (14 oz each) crushed tomatoes
08 - 2 tablespoons tomato paste

→ Seasonings

09 - 1 tablespoon olive oil
10 - 1 teaspoon dried oregano
11 - 1 teaspoon dried basil
12 - 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
13 - 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 - 1/2 teaspoon sugar, optional

→ Optional Add-ins

15 - Pinch of red pepper flakes
16 - Fresh basil, chopped, for garnish

# How-To Steps:

01 - Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, zucchini, and bell pepper. Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes until vegetables are softened.
02 - Add minced garlic to the pan and sauté for 1 minute until fragrant.
03 - Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute to develop flavor.
04 - Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt, black pepper, and sugar if using. Bring mixture to a gentle simmer.
05 - Cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very tender.
06 - Remove from heat and purée the sauce with an immersion blender or transfer in batches to a countertop blender until completely smooth.
07 - Return sauce to low heat and simmer uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust seasoning as needed.
08 - Serve hot over pasta and garnish with fresh basil if desired.

# Expert Tips:

01 -
  • You're sneaking vegetables into every bite without anyone noticing or caring—it tastes too good to worry about what's hiding in there.
  • It comes together in under an hour and actually tastes like you've been simmering something all day.
  • The sauce freezes beautifully, which means future you gets to skip the chopping entirely.
02 -
  • Don't skip the toasting step with tomato paste—those 60 seconds change everything about how the sauce tastes, turning it from flat to dimensional.
  • Puréeing is not optional; any small chunks will come back to haunt you when you eat it, and the whole point is silky luxury.
  • Taste before serving because canned tomatoes range from quite acidic to naturally sweet, and what needs balancing in one batch might not in another.
03 -
  • Immersion blenders make this faster and easier than transferring to a countertop blender in batches, plus there's less cleanup.
  • If your sauce seems too thin after blending, simmering uncovered for an extra 5 or 10 minutes lets water evaporate without any real effort on your part.
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