Have you ever had a fun night with friends where there was a “mystery menu?” On this menu, everything has weird names that represent food. If it were a Halloween-themed menu, you could have thing like “snake’s blood” and “eyeballs.” If you were going for fancy fare, you could have items like “foliage melange” and “nectar of the gods.”
In this dinner scenario, you have three courses, but you really have no idea what you are ordering, (even though you have tried so hard to figure out what the menu items really are). So you could end up with your salad and cupcake together, followed by spaghetti and Ranch dressing together, and finished off with pasta sauce and sparkling apple cider.
In the past, I might have been dismayed had my plate shown up with pasta sauce sans the pasta. But this pasta sauce is good enough to eat on its own. It is quite simply the perfect pasta sauce.
You might think that this is some secret recipe where you have to simmer the sauce all day long. We don’t do that kind of nonsense here. (No offense to people with Italian grandmas who simmer their sauces all day).
It is super easy and quick to make this sauce which can be used on all kinds of pasta, and also is a great dipping sauce for breadsticks and cheesesticks. I use it on my pizzas as well.
All it has is tomato sauce, garlic, diced tomatoes, diced onion, and few spices. For something so deceptively simple, it is so amazingly delicious!
One thing I really love about making this pasta sauce is that I can control the amount of sugar that goes into it. If you are watching your sugar intake, beware of those bottled pasta sauces. Some of them don’t have much sugar, but others have way more than you would imagine!
You probably already have the ingredients for this sauce on hand. That’s why it’s perfect for those nights when you don’t have time to run to the store but you need to have dinner ready stat!
So start planning that menu. And whether you call this sauce “zombie juice” or “the queen’s ruby river,” you’ll enjoy it just the same.
Oh, and don’t forget to include some “spiral spires” breadsticks!
- 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 large onion chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves minced or pressed
- 2 Tbsp. corn starch
- 4 14.5 oz. cans of crushed or diced tomatoes
- 1 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
- 1-2 Tbsp. sugar to taste optional
- 2 tsp. dried basil
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- Pinch of red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Pinch of baking soda
- If using diced tomatoes rather than crushed, pour them into a blender and pulse until the tomatoes have been broken down. Do not puree them.
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.
- Add onion and cook until translucent.
- Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more.
- Add the corn starch to the cooked onions and garlic and stir.
- Immediately after mixing in the corn starch, add the can of tomato sauce and stir.
- Carefully add the crushed tomatoes to the pot and stir.
- Add the sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of baking soda and mix well.
- Add salt and pepper to your liking.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer and keep it simmering on low heat for 25-30 minutes
- Extra sauce may be frozen.
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