Here is my big batch recipe for vegan friendly spaghetti sauce. This recipe has been in my family for years; I have fond memories whenever I make it. It reminds me of helping my mom in the kitchen when I was a little girl.
This makes multiple meals that you can freeze in serving sizes. If you have a big enough stock pot, you can make a double batch. My partner and I get about 10 meals out of a single batch. This sauce is hearty and full of veggies. If you want to add meat to it you absolutely can. You can mix in browned ground beef, veal or pork. Season you meat before you brown it. (Salt and pepper) You can also add cooked meatballs toward the end or cooked sausage in the middle of the cooking process.
There are two ways to approach this sauce. One way is to use 3 large tins of whole or crushed tomatoes. Or if you can your own tomatoes like I do, I use 2 litres of whole Roma tomatoes. I run the whole tomatoes through the blender before adding them to my sauce. Using whole tomatoes will require a little longer cook time as they have more juice than crushed.
In a large stock pot add:
3 or 4 celery stalks, diced
15 chopped mushrooms (I don’t use the stems)
1-2 whole green peppers, diced You can also do a mix of a red, yellow, orange and green.
2 chopped scallions
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
Sauté the pepper and celery first, when softened throw in the rest of your veggies. Stir fry about 5 minutes. Add one tin pure tomato paste (the small size) and mix in with the veggies.
Immediately add your tomatoes and a large tin tomato juice. (Brand names tend to be a little thicker such as Heinz, however, the store brands are just fine, it may add a few more minutes to your cook time.
Add 2-3 bay leaves
1 tablespoon oregano
2 tablespoons basil
A pinch of sugar (this is very important as it takes the acidity out of the tomatoes) I put about 1 teaspoon
Parsley to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Simmer for about 1-2 hours or until firm. Your spoon should be able to stay up when put it the sauce. Stir sauce about every 10 minutes or so.
Since this is comfort food, you can add a little magical tone to this recipe by cooking with the intent on bringing your family comfort. Especially nice energy to have on a cold winter’s day.
Let me know what you guys think about this sauce!
Many blessings,
Lady Black