Hi, it’s me… Kay. You remember me, right? Vaguely?

This here is J-man’s all-time favorite pasta sauce. Mine too, but that’s probably due to all the vegetables that make it chockfull of flavor. The more the better, but that’s just me.

The veggies really influence the flavor of the sauce. Carrots will add sweetness, roast the pepper and you’ll get a hearty and slightly smoky flavor, or add some celery for a little tang. I always include some zucchini as well, not as much for flavor as it is for a slight velvety texture.

The pasta sauce has a nice little twist that I discovered by accident. My secret ingredient is: ras el hanout. It was a happy accident too I must say, that stuff really deepens the flavor of the sauce. We’ve added it ever since.

Picky eaters probably won’t eat a chunky sauce on their spaghetti, but you can easily adjust the size of the vegetables by using your food processor to do the chopping.

Ingredients:

13oz sausage (pork)
2 medium onions
1 large bell pepper
1 medium carrot
2 to 3 garlic cloves
1 zucchini
1 medium leek
2 14 oz cans diced tomatoes
5oz can tomato paste
1 vegetable bouillon cube
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 heaping tsp ras el hanout
2 tbsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp olive oil
black pepper

Directions:

The happy few.

Speaking of happy, this is what the man himself looked like on Queens Day. He’s a huge fan of our royal family.

I used my food processor because I was strapped for time, but since I wanted to control the texture I chopped everything separately.

Combine it all in a big bowl.

The one thing I did chop by hand was the zucchini.

Stir it in with the rest of the vegetables.

Grate the garlic. We like our sauce heavy on garlic but feel free to take it down a notch.

You know that rubbing your hands on stainless steel instantly removes the scent of garlic, right? I even have a special stainless steel ‘soap bar’ for it.

I took a few seasoned (pork) sausages out of their casings. Use Italian sausage if you can get your hands on it!

Heat the oil and cook the sausage while breaking it up with a spatula. Just until it loses its rawness. Feel free to discard the fat, must say I didn’t.

Add the mixed vegetables.

Season with a pinch of salt, some pepper and stir in the grated garlic. Cook this over low to medium heat for 10 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute to sweeten it a bit.

Next, pour in the diced tomatoes. Use one of the empty cans and fill it 2/3 of the way with water, pour it into the sauce.

Crumble in the bouillon cube, add the salt and a good pinch of pepper. I add 2 tsp sugar because Jayden likes the sauce a tad sweeter. The carrot also adds sweetness, though.

The ras el hanout really elevates it and turns it into something way more special than just a simple pasta sauce.

 

When I freeze this sauce I prefer to use dried herbs, but fresh herbs also works really well. You can also combine the two, just make sure you stir in the basil after the sauce has ben cooked. It’ll turn bitter if you add it too soon.

Add the dried herbs and bring the sauce to a boil.

Let it simmer, with the lid on, for 45 minutes while stirring occasionally.

After 45 minutes you remove the lid and let the sauce simmer for another 15 minutes so it will thicken up. Check the seasoning.

Gives you time to boil some salted water and pour a tbsp oil in there to keep the pasta from lumping together.

Boil the pasta (I opted for spaghetti) according to the instructions on the package.

Serve with Parmesan curls and fresh basil leaves. Don’t be surprised if they’ll ask for seconds, it really is a good sauce!