An easy pasta sauce you can make in minutes with the added goodness of roasted vegetables. Find out the simple ingredient I use to speed cook this sauce.
I’m all about easy to make meals. With a 5 month old If I can get dinner ready in 30 minutes it’s a huge win for me. If I can meal prep the most important component of the said dinner, that can also be used to make other amazing dinners, I deserve a standing ovation. Thank you, Thank you.
What’s in the pasta sauce?
A baking sheet full of roasted vegetables, a bottle of tomato passata and some seasonings. That’s all you need for this amazing pasta sauce. These are the vegetables you need.
- Red bell pepper
- Zucchini
- Carrot
- Onion
- Garlic
My favorite special ingredient to make a speedy sauce is the tomato passata. I wrote a whole post about it here. Check it out. What is Tomato Passata?
How to roast vegetables
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Cut the the bell pepper, zucchini, carrots into roughly equal sized pieces. Quarter the onion. Peel the garlic cloves. Mix all the vegetables with olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Spread it in a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
How to make the pasta sauce
Transfer the roasted vegetables to a bowl and puree using a hand blender. I like a chunky sauce with bits of vegetables in it, hence the hand blender. If you want a smooth puree kind of sauce, use a blender.
Add the tomato passata to the blended vegetables. Mix it in. Check the seasoning and you are done. This makes about 5 to 6 cups of sauce.
I don’t cook the sauce at this point unless I’m using it right away. I use about 2 cups and store the rest in freezer. I store them in 1 cup zip lock bags or mason jars and they would last for a good 3 to 4 months.
What to use the pasta sauce on
I love to use this pasta sauce basically on every tomato based dish.
- Use this for all the tomato based pasta dishes to add a healthy dose of vegetables.
- Add 1 cup of this sauce to your lasagna meat sauce.
- It will be great in a keema (minced meat) curry. I use about 1 cup.
- This is an easy marinara sauce with roasted vegetables. So use it wherever you use marinara sauce.
I don’t cook this sauce before storing. I cook this sauce when I use it in a dish. The tomato passata is already smooth and saucy and it doesn’t need to cook down unlike crushed tomatoes or whole tomatoes.
The pasta sauce is a base recipe that you can play with as per your hearts desire. It tastes a tad bit sweet thanks to the roasted vegetables. I use chili flakes to crank up the heat, more salt and pepper when I’m using it in a pasta dish.
I have the recipe for you for a fusili pasta dish that I make regularly using this Roasted vegetable and tomato pasta sauce.
If you make this recipe I’d love to know.
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Equipment
- Baking sheet
- Hand Blender
Ingredients
Pasta Sauce
- 2 red bell peppers diced
- 2 zucchini halved and sliced
- 2 carrots peeled and sliced
- 1 large onion quartered
- 4 garlic cloves peeled
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 cups tomato passata (1 bottle, approximately 680 ml)
Roasted vegetable and tomato pasta dish
- 4 cups fusili pasta
- 2 cups roasted vegetable and tomato pasta sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup full cream
- 1 tsp red chili flakes
- salt to taste
- chopped parsley to garnish
Instructions
To make the pasta sauce
- Preheat the oven to 425 degree F.
- Add the cut vegetables and garlic to a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle salt, black pepper and oregano. Mix all in. Pour the olive oil to coat all the vegetables.
- Spread it evenly on a baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked and lightly browned.
- Once out of the oven, let cool the vegetables. Once cooled, add them into a mixing bowl and puree using a hand blender. Alternatively, transfer roasted veggies to a blender and puree.
- Add the tomato passata and mix it in. You can use the pasta sauce right away in your dish. Check seasoning and heat it through. You can refrigerate or freeze the remaining pasta sauce.
To make the pasta dish
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain and set aside. Reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta cooking liquid.
- Heat oil in a pan and add the pasta sauce. Add chili flakes. Let it come to a boil. Lower the heat and add the cream. Stir to combine.
- Add the pasta in. If the sauce is too thick, add the reserved pasta liquid gradually to thin it down until it reaches the desired consistency. Add more if needed.
- Check seasoning. Add more salt, pepper or chili flakes if needed. Garnish with chopped parsley.
Notes
- I always freeze the remaining sauce in 1 cup zip lock bags.
- Beware when using jars in the freezer. Always leave room on the top for it to expand. I’ve lost quite a few jars and sauces to this. So I always use zip lock bags.
- They are easier to thaw too this way. Plunge them in hot water for 10 minutes or defrost them in the microwave.
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