Chunky Herbalicious Blushed Pasta Sauce

I enjoy gardening. There is something about planting a tiny seed in the spring and harvesting armfuls of produce in fall. Herbs are one thing I grow each year.  I have both indoor and 

outdoor herbs.

I always have my favorites – basil, rosemary, chives, and parsley and then venture out with a few new flavors each year like lemon thyme, sweet mint, chocolate mint, oregano, or sage. My chives and rosemary usually grow as perennials, so I don’t have to replant them each spring. And after months of coaxing I’ve finally got my pot of parsley to grow year-round indoors. There is not much of it, but it grows year-round.

The other day I wanted to make something with my herbs. I thought about developing a sugar cookie with lemon thyme, but it was too hot to turn the oven on for an extended period. I considered a smoothie with fruit and mint, but that only used one herb. I finally ended up making a delicious and chunky herb filled pasta sauce.

I started by chopping half a large onion and one sweet pepper and sautéing them in some canola oil. When the veggies were mostly tender I added some tomato paste and minced garlic for flavor depth. Then stirred in a quart of my home canned tomatoes. Next came the herbs about 4 Tbs of fresh basil, thyme, sage, and parsley and I added some dried oregano as well.

While the sauce would have been great at this point I couldn’t resist blushing the sauce with a little cream.

I served it over some cheese ravioli. Delicious!

​Chunky Herbalicious Blushed Pasta Sauce
Makes 2 ½ to 3 cups

1 Tbs canola or olive oil
½ large onion, diced
1 large green or red sweet pepper, diced
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 Tbs tomato paste
1 quart (or 28 oz can) crushed or diced tomatoes
4 Tbs herbs, torn (I used 1 Tbs each of basil, thyme, sage, and parsley) I also added ½ tsp dried oregano, if I had fresh I would have 5 Tbs of herbs
2 Tbs heavy cream
Salt and pepper to taste
 
Heat oil in a large deep skillet. Sauté onion and pepper until crisp tender. Stir in tomato paste and garlic, cook for 1 min. Add canned tomatoes. Simmer until vegetables are soft and sauce is reduced. Stir in torn herbs. Just before serving stir in heavy cream. Add salt and pepper if needed.
 
The sauce is very chunky and best over a larger pasta like ravioli.