Awesome Sauce

Make the most of seasonal summer produce with this awesome sauce, which features onions, peppers and sweet grape tomatoes. This recipe comes to us from Kids Cook Monday Ambassador Karen of Our Blessed Adventures.

Serves 6

Cooking Tip of the Week: If chopping onions makes you cry, try refrigerating the onion for at least 30 minutes before you start chopping. Cold onions release less of the substance that irritates your eyes.

Food for Thought: Do cherry and grape tomatoes taste like the sweet berries they’re named after? Not really, they mostly taste like (delicious!) regular tomatoes. These little tomatoes have been bred to stay small, making them easy to pop into dishes like pasta, salads and sauces. Cherry tomatoes are usually round, while grape tomatoes are more oval-shaped, like an actual grape.

Family Dinner Conversation Starter: What is the most awesome thing about our family? How could we be even more awesome?

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 (6 oz.) bag of spinach
• 2 (15 oz.) cans of tomato sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional) or dairy-free cream
• 1 (16 oz.) box of your favorite pasta

Directions:

Together: Chop the onion, pepper and garlic and sauté together in olive oil.

Kid: Add the shredded carrots and spinach. Once tender, add the whole grape tomatoes.

Kid: Season the pot with salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

Adult: Simmer until the tomatoes start bursting, then add the tomato sauce.

Together: Using an immersion blender, give the mixture a few pulses to smooth it out.

Together: Stir in heavy cream.

Together: Serve over pasta with optional basil garnish.