You will love this fresh and easy meatless pasta sauce recipe that goes well with the lightness of thin spaghetti or Vermicelli pasta. A meatless sauce is great for mid-week when you just want something simple and a meat-free meal that is healthy and quick.
Meatless Spaghetti Sauce – Easy and Healthy Pasta Sauce
This recipe is so easy and so quick. We promise! And did we mention healthy?
It never ceases to amaze us that we never tire of this easy meatless spaghetti sauce. If we could pick one food to eat forever – it would be this dish! And, one of the best things about this sauce as well is it’s very easy on the grocery budget.
Cooked tomatoes are very healthy and just brimming with lycopene so it’s good to eat lots of cooked tomatoes. Raw tomatoes are just swimming with vitamin C so include both in your weekly diet.
What Pasta to Use with this Meatless Red Sauce?
It doesn’t really matter what type of pasta you use, as long as the noodles are long and thin. There is something about a red sauce that just goes with long thin spaghetti noodles.
How to Cook the Spaghetti:
- To start, fill a large pot with water and salt generously. About 1/2 tablespoon of salt to start with should be fine, but taste to make sure, and add another 1/2 tablespoon if you don’t get that immediate salty taste.
- Bring the pot of water to a rolling boil, make sure it’s a good hard boil, and then add the pasta. Start stirring immediately and keep it up for about a full minute. This is the “make or break” point where the pasta could possibly stick together. Once you are sure the pasta has been well separated, let cook for the full recommended cooking time.
- If you are a pasta lover like I am, it really pays to have a spaghetti grabber/stirrer when you cook your spaghetti.
- About a minute or two before pasta has finished cooking, carefully grab a few strands of pasta with a long fork and feel with your teeth for doneness. This should give you some idea of how much longer it needs to cook, or if you should grab it off the burner immediately.
When you drain the spaghetti, always save about 1 cup of the hot pasta water. This seasoned water comes in handy to keep the pasta from sticking in the pot and also to thin out the tomato sauce.
Tip: if you need to let pasta sit in the pan for any length of time, add a little of the reserved pasta water and butter or oil to the pan. For a less starchy pasta, make sure to drain and rinse well with cold water.
Ingredients Needed for Meatless Pasta Sauce:
- Extra Virgin Olive oil
- Fresh Garlic Cloves
- Can whole San Marzano tomatoes
- Tomato paste
- Fresh basil leaves
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Meatless Sauce is Served on:
- 1/2 lb. thin spaghetti
- 4 tablespoons good olive oil
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced fine
- 1 (28 oz) can whole San Marzano tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves chopped
- Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1/2 lb. thin spaghetti
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Start cooking the spaghetti noodles, reserve some of the water.
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Blend the tomatoes in a blender until nice and smooth.
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Using a large skillet, cook garlic in olive oil for about 5 minutes careful not to brown.
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Add the tomato paste and cook about about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
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Salt & pepper the tomato paste while cooking
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Add blended tomatoes, 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water and basil to the pan.
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Add about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper.
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Simmer for about 15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
Why We Love Meatless Spaghetti Sauce:
Cooked tomatoes are very healthy and just brimming with lycopene so it’s good to eat lots of cooked tomatoes. Raw tomatoes are just swimming with vitamin C so include both in your weekly diet. We would encourage all to buy organic pasta or spaghetti whenever possible.
You can use this sauce for just about any type of pasta. Some of our favorites would include:
- Rigatoni Pasta
- Thin Spaghetti
- Vermicelli
- Linguine
- Shells
A Few Ways to Use Meatless Sauce
- Another great way to serve this meatless sauce would be over packaged frozen ravioli. This makes a great sauce for the meat, sausage or cheese varieties
- Or serve as a dipping sauce instead of Marinara sauce.
Save Money! This is one of our favorite meals to prepare if you have children. It goes a long way and is one the cheapest meals you can put on your table.
What to Serve with Spaghetti and Meatless Sauce?
Serve this meal with a basic salad and dinner rolls. Yum, a fresh and healthy salad is perfect with pasta.
A glass of White Zinfandel
Breadsticks
Try A Few Of Our Favorite Spaghetti Recipes:
We also have a great recipe for spaghetti sauce with ground beef that everyone will love!
Ground Turkey Bolognese Recipe
Ground Pork Spaghetti
How to Keep Leftover Pasta with Sauce:
Spaghetti and pasta both keep very well. Place in an airtight container, when ready to use just heat in the microwave. If you store the pasta and sauce separately, you can toss the pasta in boiling water for a minute to reheat. Leftover spaghetti makes for a quick lunch or dinner later in the week.
