Sneaky Momma's Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce is YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY! Not to mention, it has Kale in it! One of those super-healthy foods that everyone's afraid to try. Well, blended into a sauce, you'd never know it's there (that's why I tried this recipe) and it's delicious! (It comes from the AWESOME vegan cookbook "Vegan Lunchbox," which is designed for kid-friendly vegan food)

Note: When you buy Kale at the store, one bunch is enough to triple this recipe. It freezes well, and when it's tripled, makes just under 7 quart jars of sauce. This sauce can be used in pastas, lasagna, or anything else you need a tomato sauce for. But I recommend not trying to triple the recipe in one step unless you have a REALLY large pot. My biggest soup pot wasn't big enough, and made for a REALLY messy kitchen.

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 c. chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (optional)

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (28 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained (I think I forgot to drain them...)

1 (6 oz) can tomato paste

1 cup shredded basil leaves

2 cups shredded kale leaves

1 large carrot, grated

2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried thyme

pinch of dried red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 tsp salt (or to taste)

- Heat the olive oil in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion (and red bell pepper) until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute.

- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, kale, carrot, parsley, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes. break the whole tomatoes apart with the back of a wooden spoon and stir until everything is well blended. When the mixture begins to bubble, lower the heat and cook on low, stirring occasionally, for about one hour.

-let cool slightly, then transfer the tomato sauce to a blender, working in batches if necessary. Blend until completely smooth, then transfer to a clean saucepan and stir over low heat until warm. Add the sugar, pepper and salt. 

Just a note: we skipped the re-heating at the end because we were only making this sauce to freeze. So that meant we also left out the last 3 ingredients and it was still delicious. But I'm sure you could add them before you blend if you want to skip the re-heating step.