Homemade Tomato Sauce : Healthy, clean && easy!

Before finding out that I couldn't eat pasta, I ate pasta. Well saying I ate pasta is really not doing it justice..I more like devoured pasta frequently, and by frequently I mean multiple times a week. Pasta was my go-to food for when I was happy, sad, angry or bored. Once I did find out that pasta was something I couldn't eat anymore I was devastated. What other food was out there?

Now-a-days I still eat pasta, but it has to be gluten-free (i.e. pretty tasteless). I buy quinoa pasta and it is by far my favorite type of gluten-free pasta, mainly because it doesn't dissolve like rice pasta.I haven't figured out how to make gluten-free pasta from scratch besides using squash and spiralizing it (and be sure to look for a post about that coming up!) so I am forced to resort to buying a processed item. This pasta however is all natural and probably the healthiest you could find, so I recommend it.

Given that my favorite food was taken away from me and replaced with an alternative I do not find TOO tasty I was forced of ways to make pasta taste good. I bought a Vitamix 2 years ago, and that blender came with a recipe book that includes making sauces with the blender.

"Sauces in a blender? How stupid is that?!"- I thought. I was desperate and so I tried it. After 2 years of practice I have figured out how to make a delicious tomato sauce to drench my gluten-free pasta in that is super easy, relatively quick and mighty delicious.

First think of all the flavors you enjoy in a tomato based pasta sauce; mine were garlic, basil, onions, mushrooms, and oregano. So there you have it: 99% of my ingredients. I use fresh herbs from my herb garden and would HIGHLY recommend buying fresh herbs to use in any sauce you make, it will kick ass.

I cut up 4-6 tomatoes in 1/4 and put them in a baking pan. I then cut up one clove of garlic, 1/4 an onion, a handful of fresh basil, a tablespoon of fresh oregano and I drizzle olive oil all over it. I don't measure my olive oil, but I would say I don't drizzle more than 2-3 tablespoons.

I put a little pepper and no salt; you don't need salt when you are messing with fresh herbs, they provide all the flavor you need.

I then bake these ingredients at 350 degrees for about 15-25 minutes. Your kitchen should start smelling like heaven!

After you bake the tomatoes you can either blend it for 10 seconds OR you can put it in the stove top at a medium heat and stir everything up. If you like creamier sauce feel free to add a little milk.

After I blend it up for 10 seconds I put it on the stove top to simmer and I usually cut up mushrooms and bell peppers to add some chunkiness to my sauce. I do this for about 10 minutes until I get a consistency I like. I know you might be skeptical about a sauce that is "blended" and has all natural ingredients, but let me tell you that this sauce is so delicious and flavorful. Modify this recipe to fit what you like, and try adding new things! My next sauce project is a vodka sauce, though I can't be sure I can claim that to be healthy. ;)

I mix in my gluten-free pasta and voilà : a dinner that is clean, healthy and super easy. On nights I feel naughty, I sprinkle munster cheese over it. Yum.

Give me feedback, let me know how you liked this!
xoxo