Confession of the day: I’m an absolute lover of mini meals because I consider them real treats! For example, my go-to snacks are bananas rolled in toasted almonds, rice cakes with cottage cheese and honey, or cereal with ice cold almond milk.
Oh and margaritas! Because those can be considered snacks, right?
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Anyway I’m getting back to the point here… I eat a lot of carbs, and that’s a problem. But you guys, I just ADORE nooks-and-crannies english muffins and basically every flavor of Cheerios to ever hit the market (minus Dulce de Leche).
Raise your hand if I just described you, too.
Surprisingly I’ve managed to stop buying both bread and cereal so now the only carb-like food lurking in my cupboards is a pack of rice cakes, low-carb tortillas, and apparently marshmallow creme, which I ate from the jar last night while watching old episodes of Felicity.
I don’t know if you know this but teen drama from the 90s is extremely stressful.
So this whole low-carb thing means that I am forced to give up pasta and opt for something else to pair tomato sauce with. That’s where spaghetti squash comes in handy; it’s gluten-free, low-carb, and freaking delicious! Did you know that one cup of spaghetti squash only has 42 calories and 8 net carbs? I can literally eat platefuls of it!
The real star today isn’t the spaghetti squash though; it’s my homemade arrabbiata sauce — a spicy tomato marinara sauce with garlic and herbs. I was reading somewhere that arrabbiato means angry in Italian, which for me just translates into one mean, spicy marinara! It is sensational, especially when paired with garden veggies.
I enjoy making homemade tomato sauce because I love knowing what ingredients are being used plus the flavors are always bold and fresh. I thought it would be fun to show you how I make my favorite sauce without canned ingredients so that you can enjoy it too! Trust me, once you try this you won’t go back.
Now obviously it isn’t tomato season, but this recipe is good year round and wonderful to freeze. I purchase organic tomatoes from Whole Foods because I find them to be the best quality during the off-season, but they can be a bit expensive so it’s up to you.
To start, the tomatoes need to be stewed. The easiest way to do this is by cutting a X into the top or bottom of each tomato.
Then bring a pot of water to a boil, and prepare a large bowl of ice water nearby.
Place the X’ed tomatoes in the boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skin begins to peel and crack off a bit. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place tomatoes immediately into the ice water for another minute or two to cool.
The tomatoes should be easy to peel at this point! I just use my hands.
Once peeled, cut the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds; then chop tomatoes into chunks and place in a bowl.
Yes, you’ll have a bit of a mess but it will be worth it.
Next you’ll saute the garlic, veggies, onions, and celery with a bit of olive oil. I like to use carrots too because it naturally sweetens up the sauce a bit, but you could certainly sub them with red peppers or omit entirely.
After the veggies become a bit soft you’ll add your tomatoes and tomato paste. Oh and the million dollar herbs.
Gosh I adore both the smell and taste of fresh basil in my sauces. And LOTS of it too. Don’t be skimpy!
Finally you’ll add your red pepper flakes for the spice! Then bring the sauce to a boil and reduce heat and simmer for about an hour. During the last 15 minutes, I add chopped zucchini. Va va voom!
After the sauce is done simmering all you’ll need to do is puree it with a hand blender or a food processor. I enjoy my sauce a bit chunky so I don’t puree it completely; often times I’ll just puree half of the sauce and then add extra veggies to it for a chunky texture.
Now the great part about this sauce is that it can practically be served with anything. Usually I’ll make stuffed chicken meatballs with spaghetti squash or even just bake my turkey meatballs and throw in a little mozzarella on top of the sauce.
Other pairings I enjoy: grilled chicken, whole grain pasta, quinoa, or a cheesy brown rice. You really can’t go wrong!
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125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Homemade Arrabbiata Sauce with Zucchini {the only tomato sauce you'll ever need}
Ingredients
- 16 medium to large Roma tomatoes, preferrably organic
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium white or yellow onion, diced
- 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried ground oregano
- 6-8 basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon red chile pepper flakes
- 3-4 medium zucchini, preferably organic, chopped
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat. Sprinkle in a little bit of salt. Using a knife, cut an X into the end of each tomato. In a large bowl, add water and ice. Place a few tomatoes into the boiling water for about 1 minute or until you see the skins begin to peel off ever so slightly. Remove them with a slotted spoon, and place in ice water for another minute or until cool. Repeat with remaining tomatoes.
- Once the tomatoes are cool, remove from ice water and use your fingers to remove the skin by simply peeling it back from the X you created. Then slice and chop the tomatoes and place into another large bowl until ready to cook.
- In a large dutch oven or casserole pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions become translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Then add celery, carrots, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper; saute until veggies are softened.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and chili pepper flakes and bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for about one hour, stirring every 10 minutes or so. During the last 15 minutes stir in zucchini.
- After sauce is done (the zucchini should be al dente), remove from heat and transfer half of the sauce to a blender or food processor. Try not to get the zucchini in the sauce you're about to blend. Blend/process until smooth then add the pureed sauce back to the pan. Season with more salt and pepper then serve immediately.
Recipe Notes
32 comments
Wow this is just gorgeous! I love tomatoes and eat one a day, like most people eat an apple a day 🙂
I do the same thing!
Honestly, I don’t know if I will ever make tomato sauce without first roasting at least some of my tomatoes first. In fact, that’s how I first happened upon your blog (looking for a roasted tomato sauce recipe). I still have some roasted tomatoes and some peppers left from the garden. I’m sure they would be a heavenly addiction to this recipe!
looks great
I just made this for dinner. It was delicious! However my sauce was never liquidy, it was more like paste. I followed the recipe very closely. Should I add tomato sauce to the recipe?
Thank you for this!!! Made it tonight with courgette noddles for my dinner and it was yummy!!! Like Amanda said the bits I blended was like a paste but when mixed with the other chunky bits was a lovely thick sauce. Thanks again!!!
I made this tonight, it was fabulous. My new favorite recipe. I usually have trouble following recipes exactly because I always want to tweak them, but I stuck to this one and I’m so glad I did. Its the first sauce I ever made that didn’t have red wine, but I don’t even miss it, there is so much flavor. I will be making this again, for sure, thank you!
And tonight I just made our third batch of this – the tomatoes just keep coming! I am canning it so we can enjoy it all winter.
Are you sure it’s not 1.5 TEAspoons of dried oregano?? Tablespoons sounds more likely for fresh herbs. Just checking!
Amazing! Made this tonight and had it with some homemade gnocchi. So sweet and flavourful!
Okay, I live in an apartment, so no garden. Also I hate, and I mean HATE chopping tomatoes. So with that in mind, what would be the equivalent in canned/boxed tomatoes? I always have Pomi chopped tomatoes on hand.
Don’t even bother chopping them. When you peel the tomatoes, just give them a squeeze over your pot so they’re crushed, and throw them in. Also, leave the seeds in! That liquid that they’re in is mostly glutamates, and it’s what provides the umami in tomato-based dishes! In fact, I don’t even bother peeling my tomatoes when I made sauce. The amount of time you need to simmer them makes the peels soft and edible.
At what stage do you add the zucchini?
can you can this instead of freezing?
Just made this it was absolutely fantastic . I used one of those zucchini spaghetti cutters instead of slicing the zucchini. This is a keeper.
Delicious!
Can this be pressure canned?
Hi Elizabeth! I’ve never tried it, but let me know if you do!
Hi! Making your sauce for the second time. I will process it as I did last year. Great to have a quart handy when the day has been busy. With one batch I used Chili’s which puts a twist of flavor goes well with rice and shrimp added. One thing I will add this year is a small can of tomato paste.
Delicious!
Quick question for all you pressure canners out there! How long did you process quarts? I’m thinking 40 minutes,…..I just don’t want to disintegrate the chunkiest of the sauce. I plan to make this tomorrow. Thanks in advance!
That… was extremely delicious! Thank you! I just changed a couple of things:
– The biggest whopper first: I used canned, or rather tetrapacked tomatoes. It was what I had at 10 p.m., and… it has tomatoes. And a tiny amount of citric acid. I would have added a bit of lemon juice somewhere anyway, so that was already taken care of.
– I cooked the zucchini in a strainer I put above the cooking noodles – perfect al dente noodles and zucchini in one go, and the tomato sauce could be pureed without problems from stray zucchinis. 🙂
– I added double the amount of chili flakes – I like my sauce extremly angry. 🙂 And I added a squeeze of honey, to enhance the tomato-and-carrot fruityness.
– And finally, I added the basil at the very end of cooking the sauce. I just like the still a bit fresh taste it retains that way.
All other ratios and especially the cooking time I didn’t fiddle with – spot on, and the sauce is just heavenly after a full hour of cooking! Thanks again!
(Sorry I didn’t rate the recipe – for whatever reason, I could not go over 3 stars, and this recipe is definitely more than that… ☆☆☆☆☆!)
Looks fabulous, I’m going to try it asap! Can this also be used as a canning recipe? Probably just add some vinegar correct?
So excited for you to try it! And great idea to can it. I haven’t actually done that so not sure about the vinegar. If you’ve done it successfully for similar sauces, I say go for it!
I like that addition of chili pepper I hope it will give this a nice kick
Hope you love it!
Very thick sauce, flavorful, & delish. I served this over chicken with garlic bread. Loved it!
Sounds delicious! Glad you enjoyed!
Hi there!
This sounds delicious! Thank you!
Question: how well does it freeze?
Wondering what happens to the zucchini?
Thank you!!!
Yes! If you’d like you can freeze the sauce for up to 2 months in an airtight plastic bag or container.
Ugh, this was awful! Wayyyy too much oregano! Not one of the 4 of us liked it. I put it all in a colander and rinsed it off to use in another recipe.
So sorry this wasn’t a hit for you!