This is my go-to pasta sauce. It can easily be scaled up or down, and is bright and flavorful without the day-long simmer of a traditional marinara sauce. It’s also super quick and easy, and is perfect for a weeknight meal. This time, I made a double batch for my community group. But it’s often the base for much that we do around here. (It would probably also be a great pizza sauce.)
I can’t wait until my garden starts growing for this year! I planted seeds for the first time this year and they started to sprout this week! Soon you may see a lot of kale recipes… I also planted garlic back in November, so I hope that I am able to make this sauce again with my very own garlic.
Even though people typically frown on things in cans, nobody seems to bat an eye with tomatoes. However, I also use this recipe as a more summery version with fresh ones when the garden is hoppin’. As I’ve mentioned before, San Marzano tomatoes are so delicious. It’s okay to use San Marzano “style” or even regular canned peeled tomatoes, it just doesn’t have quite the same “drinkability” factor. But I made it this week with a mix of San Marzano and regular and it still turned out delicious!
My homegrown item for this recipe is my very own basil plant, which I had showed you grew like crazy this summer. I froze large amounts of them with a little olive oil and a food processor and packed them into little cubes. It was quite the amount packed into each cube, so one of them sufficed for the whole sauce. I’d use 20 leaves or so to pack in the same basil flavor as my cube.
What have you planted? What’s your favorite recipe to cook from things you grow?
#enJOY!
xxHillary
Five Ingredient Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 T. olive oil
- 1 cube of frozen basil or about two handfuls of chopped fresh basil (homegrown)
- 2-3 cloves of garlic pressed
- 1/2 t. sea salt
- 1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes crushed by hand
Instructions
- Crush tomatoes by hand in a bowl (it's fun).
- Heat oil in a saucepan on medium heat.
- Add pressed garlic and bail to the oil.
- Pour in tomatoes. Either leave on medium or turn down to low-medium to heat through.
- Serve when hot!
- #enJOY
Ah yes, the pasta sauce “drinkability” factor! Crucial! I LOVE the idea for freezing basil …our plants always take off and we make a lot of pesto–and freeze some of that –but I’ll have to try just freezing the basil cubes. Looks great!
I like this review… Drinkabilty is awesome!!?
Thanks! 🙂
Yes! We just give them a whir in the food processor with some olive oil 🙂
Looks delicious and who doesn’t love a good pasta sauce?! I’ve attempted several times to grow basil and haven’t had any luck. However, I can grow lots of thyme, oregano and mint. Fresh herbs are the best, aren’t they? Love that you froze the basil. Great way to preserve it when you have too much to use. So convenient!
Thanks, Dawn! I hope you keep trying with basil! The more you cut, the more it grows. My thyme died last summer but I got a new plant last weekend. Best of luck with your plants!
Love this!!!!!!