The ‘I-Have-No-Time-To-Make-Pasta-Sauce’ Sauce: Tomato Edition

Expectations:

When my husband brought home fresh pasta from Eataly,  I thought he would bring home pasta sauce. He didn’t… which turned out to be a good thing. He knows I prefer to make my own sauces. Thankfully, I always have lots of vegetables on hand and my daughter is grape-tomato-obsessed. I sautéed the grape tomatoes with extra virgin olive oil, rosemary (and later basil), garlic and within minutes, the sauce ready to go!

Simple and delicious!

Time: Even with the chopping this should take less than 15 minutes, all-in.

Serves: 2 adults. This can easily be doubled if you have more sauce-eaters in your home.

Kid modifications:  My oldest doesn’t really appreciate sauce and for both kids, they prefer fresh vegetables to a ‘sauce’ so I used a portion of the veggies from the sauce to put ‘on the side’ for each of them.

Chopped Grape Tomatoes, Garlic & Basil

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• One quarter cup of extra virgin olive oil.
• 2 cups of fresh grape tomatoes, sliced in half or quartered.
• 2 or 3 fresh garlic cloves, diced or sliced thinly.
• 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary (chopped into small pieces) OR 1 to 2 tablespoon of basil (cut into thin slices and then chopped)
• About 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt (or to taste)
• Optional:  Freshly ground black pepper, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. (or to taste)
• Optional:  1 tablespoon of tomato juice
• Optional:  For a ‘saucier sauce’ add about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid from the pasta after it’s finished.

Steps To Put This On Your Table:

1. Warm the extra virgin olive oil in a, saucepan at least one or two inches deep over low to medium heat.
2. Add all of the ingredients, except for the pasta cooking liquid (if using) and increase heat to medium or medium high heat, stirring constantly, until the garlic becomes fragrant and the tomatoes begin to soften. Keep the garlic moving so it does not take on too much color. The olive oil will also deepen in color, this all takes about 5 – 6  minutes.
3. If using the pasta liquid, add it at the end, and simmer for another minute or two.  Check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
4. Enjoy!

Photo of I-Don’t-Have-Any-Tomato-Sauce Sauce over Spinach Ravioli