Quick & easy tomato sauce

Making tomato sauce is usually a long long long process.  I know because I've done it.   With that being said, I try not to do this during the weekday, when I only have 2 hours when I come from work to cook dinner, feed the kids dinner, give the kids a bath, finish homework before ushering them to bed by 9pm.  So I usually pick a meal that's easy to cook, nutritious, but still yummy.

With the weather being so hot lately, I've been craving lots and lots of veggies, so I thought of this fun quick & easy tomato sauce.

Ingredients
4-5 riped tomatoes, cut into small pieces - Zyliss Red Tomato Stem Remover
2-3 carrots - cut into 1/4 size small pieces
1 whole garlic - minced (we love garlic in our house, so we naturally used a lot more)
1 yellow onion - diced
1 teaspoon of marjoram (if you don't have any in your pantry, feel free to use oregano)
1 tablespoon of garlic powder (didn't I mention we love garlic)
1 stalk of fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon of red hot pepper (more if you like spicy, or leave out if this isn't for you)
Canola or Olive Oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium size pot and stir in the garlic & onion till fragrant.  Be sure to not burn these.  Toss in carrot & toss.  Wait approximately 2-3 minutes and start putting in the tomatoes. Look at the pretty colors with all the veggies combined.

Let these vegetables simmer in your pot on medium heat for 15-20ish minutes. Keep a close eye on this and stir if necessary.  You don't need to stand by your stove and keep stirring crazily, but what you're looking for is this. You'll be tempted to add water or chicken broth before it gets to this stage.  Resist that temptation, I promise you it would cook down.  At this point, add all the seasoning into the pot and stir to mix everything together. 

The longer this cooks, the more the sauce would thicken - I kept this on my stove a medium low simmer for approximately an hour (during that time, I bathed both my kids & helped them with their homework).

In the end, I topped this on top of some zitis.  This can also go on top of spaghetti, penne or any pasta you have in your pantry.

So no this isn't your traditional tomato sauce, but the flavors are great (especially since you're using all fresh veggies), the colors are vibrant, and it's quick and easy for a work night.