A fresh tomato pasta sauce, made with garden vegetables - peppers, squash, zucchini, corn, eggplant, okra, beans - whatever you have! For a protein boost, add leftover roasted chicken, seasoned and sauteed shrimp, cooked ground beef, sausage, or other meats.
Garden Fresh Vegetable Spaghetti
I have been up to my ears in garden fresh tomatoes the past few weeks... not that it's a bad thing, don't get me wrong! It's just that as fast as I process some into sauce, I'm plucking a near equal amount off of the plants.
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| The last picking right before the tropical storm and steady coming! |
They're about done though, thanks to the massive amount of rain from Tropical Storm Cindy. I'm so glad that I planted in March! I've given a few bags of them away to folks pining for a good tomato sandwich because I certainly understand that. I have a bit of a ritual myself every summer, beginning with simply sliced, with salt and pepper and a dab of mayo, followed by a juicy tomato sandwich, after which I move on to different sandwiches, sauces and other recipes using fresh tomatoes.
Fresh tomatoes are one of the things that I look forward to every single summer, and I think that I can also safely say that I've had my seasonal share of tomato sandwiches for the year! I'm definitely a bread gal, and I love all kinds of whole grain breads, Killer Dave's brand being one of my current favorites. A tomato sandwich requires white bread though - it just does! Not the same, and doesn't even seem right on whole grain, so that means I've consumed more white bread here lately than I probably did all of last fall and winter. Man oh man, have I sure enjoyed those juicy, drippy, summer tomato sandwiches.
I've mentioned before that my gardening skills are very limited, so I really only plant a small patio garden, mostly tomatoes, herbs and a few cucumbers, but this year, I also planted some beans, peas, squash and peppers. Since they have produced for me too, I thought it'd be nice to make a garden-style vegetable spaghetti. Don't worry though, if you've got a veggie adverse spouse like mine - you can certainly add some protein.
After enjoying a yummy serving of this spaghetti as written, the next day I added some leftover roasted chicken to it, and The Cajun gobbled it up, veggies and all. It's always a good thing when I can get a few extra vegetables in him. You could also cook down some sausage or ground beef, or even saute some seasoned shrimp in a little butter to stir in at the end as well. I love this sauce with shrimp.
Now, on the subject of sauces and fresh tomatoes... there are some folks who will tell you don't bother to peel tomatoes for a sauce. I am not one of them. I'm funny about texture and if you don't peel your tomatoes when you are making a sauce, I promise you that you'll end up with hard, inedible pieces of skin that you then have to spit out while you're eating. Kinda takes the joy away from enjoying a yummy meal if you ask me! So yes, peel them.
But good news.... get you one of these soft skin peelers and you'll be happy, happy! I love mine, use it all the time, and it's perfect for skinning those juicy peaches too.
On the subject of favorite gadgets, this has become another well used one in my kitchen. I have a two cup and this four cup. It's a simple hand-pull chopper and it's mighty handy for when you need to quickly chop up just a little bit of something, like boiled eggs, onion, bell pepper, garlic or celery, or in this case tomatoes! The more you pull, the finer it chops, and while I sure love my big food processor, I use this gadget a lot more often!
Besides the tomatoes, choose whatever veggies you have growing in your garden or that are in season and available at your Farmer's Market. You'll want about 2 cups chopped and you can use fresh, or leftovers from the fridge. Add the harder ones that need to cook in with the onions, add the softer stuff like squash or cooked veggies in last. Use what you have. I threw in some cut green beans and purple hull peas, and I've included some suggestions for you at the bottom of the recipe text.
Heat butter in a skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion, bell peppers and any other harder veggies you're using first. Cook until they soften. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
Add chopped tomatoes to the skillet; sauté until tomatoes begin to soften slightly, then add in the squash and other softer already cooked vegetables.
Stir in the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, sugar and chicken broth; simmer for about 15 minutes.
Add the green onion, basil and parsley to the sauce and stir in.
Heat another 5 minutes, taste and adjust seasonings as needed. For those veggie adverse family members, use a hand blender to puree them, or carefully transfer to a stand blender to puree.
Yet another favorite gadget - my Fasta Pasta (#ad). I literally use this multiple times a week. No waiting for water to boil or standing over a pot - I love this one so much!!
Add your choice of cooked pasta to the sauce. I'm getting Dreamfield's spaghetti on my Amazon Subscribe and Save, so that's what I'm using here. It's a lower carb pasta that really tastes like regular pasta to me, and as much as I love my pasta, I figure it's a good idea to save carbs where I can for things like, I don't know... bread! I get the spaghetti, rotini and elbows on subscription.
Stir to mix thoroughly and turn out into a pasta bowl.
Garnish with parsley and grate fresh Parmesan cheese over the top, if desired. Serve immediately with fresh hot bread and a side salad.
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So many of you have said you enjoy when I share my favorite things with y'all. These are products that I own and use on a regular basis and that when viewing the site in full web view, you'll often see featured in the sidebara. Some favorite things used in this recipe, include:
Contains affiliate links
- No more boiling tomatoes with this soft skin peelers
- This simple hand-pull chopper is fab for small job chopping
- You've seen it before and you'll see it again, my Fasta Pasta
- Copper Chef ceramic non-stick pan
- Bamboo Spurtle
- Dreamfield's Healthy Carb Pasta.
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