So You've Got Some Tomato Sauce . . .

I find myself with extra tomato sauce quite often because I usually make a full batch and I'm only feeding myself. Yes, you could easily freeze the sauce until you're craving pasta once again, and yes, you could have pasta the following night as well, because we love carbs and we love pasta. There are however, some other ways to use up that banging tomato sauce and I've got a couple ideas for you guys to make use of that tomato sauce without always boiling up some noods. 

The Happy Veg Tomato Sauce




Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 35 - 40 Min

WHAT YOU NEED

• 1/4 C EVOO
• 3 Cloves Garlic, crushed
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, diced
• 2 stalks Celery, diced
• 1 Large Carrot, peeled & diced
• Handful Fresh Basil
• 1/2 C White Wine
• 1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 796ml Whole San Marzano Tomatoes
• 1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 Tsp. Dried Oregano
• 1/2 Tsp. + Sea Salt

DIRECIONS

• Begin heating a medium sized pot on just about medium heat with the EVOO, pepper flakes, oregano, and garlic, Once heated, let everything sizzle together for about 30 seconds before adding the onion, celery, carrot, and a good pinch of salt. Stir and cook 6 - 7 minutes. 
• Stir in the tomato paste and continue to cook another 2 minutes. Add the wine and simmer until mostly reduced, scraping the bottom of the pan for any flavour bits. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up a bit in the pot, as well as about 1/2 c or so of water after rinsing out the can. Bring your sauce to a boil. Once boiled, add the salt & fresh basil, reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes. 
• Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Taste and adjust salt if desired.

RECIPE 1 - Italian Poutines

• You'll need a bag of frozen potato wedges, cheese curds, fresh parsley & basil, grana padano, pepper flakes, dried oregano, and leftover tomato sauce.
• Prepare the wedges as per package directions until golden brown and crispy. 
• In a large mixing bowl, add about 1/2 C of shredded grana padano, a couple tablespoons fresh parsley, a tablespoon or so of fresh basil, 1/2 tsp. of dried oregano, and as much pepper flakes as you like. Once the wedges are cooked, add them to the bowl and drizzle with a little EVOO. Toss the wedges in the cheesy mix until nice and coated.
• For service, add your wedges to bowls and top with some curds. Smother in hot tomato sauce followed by a generous amount of shredded grana. Finish with some fresh herbs and ENJOY! 

RECIPE 2 - Cheesy Grilled Chik'n Parm
Burgs 

• You'll need 4 x plant-based chikn patties, 4 large pieces of sourdough bread, a clove of garlic, sliced pizza mozzarella, grana padano, fresh basil, and leftover tomato sauce.
• Fry up your chikn patties according to package directions. Warm up your tomato sauce as well.
• In the meantime, heat up a grill pan and drizzle your sourdough slices with EVOO on both sides. Grill until golden brown and crispy. Gently smash a garlic clove and rub the clove on both sides of the toasted bread.​

• To serve, cut the bread in half so you've got 4 sandwiches. Smear a little tomato sauce on the bottom of the bread and place your chikn burgers on next. Place a couple slices of pizza mozz on top of the burger and smother in more tomato sauce. Top with a couple fresh basil leaves & grated grana padano, and place your top pieces of bread on.
• Serve & enjoy!

HAPPY VEG