Homemade Tomato Sauce

Homemade ice cream has become my most recent obsession.

It’s pretty much up there with no makeup, sunday waffles, and bikram yoga.

A few weeks ago, a good family friend of mine lent me a terrific vegetarian cook book, written by the chefs at Cafe Flora in Seattle. Little did she know, I’ve read every single recipe like a baaaazillion times and fully intend to eat my way through this food bible this summer.

I better continue to do yoga.

But this week? Well, this week my obsession revolves around healthy eating. That’s right. No more chocolate covered pomegranates or, dare I say it, homemade ice cream. Tough times lie ahead considering we have three batches of ice cream in the freezer and an entire bag of those chocolate covered devils… Even though I make my mom hide them in the nooks and crannies of our house, I still totally manage to search endlessly for find them.

Good riddance! To all those shenanigans. And we’ll do it together. Let’s start with tomato sauce, okay?

Just think: organic tomatoes, vegetable broth, herbs, and a splash of olive oil. You like? Me, too. Especially on homemade pizza. But that’s for another time.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

from Cafe Flora Cookbook

(yields 2 cups)

Ingredients:

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove garlic

salt

1/2 tsp oregano

1, 14.5-oz can diced tomatoes and their juice

pinch of sugar

1 cup vegetable broth, or water

freshly ground pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Heat olive oil in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Mince garlic and add to saucepan with oregano and salt. Sauté for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and their juice, sugar, and vegetable broth. Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove mixture from heat and transfer it to a blender. Add a pinch of pepper and purée the sauce until done. Place in a jar and set in the refrigerator. Use when needed.

Happy noming!

Nutritional information (per 1/2 cup): 35 calories, 1.5g fat, 4g carbohydrates, 2g protein