Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is a quick and easy tomato sauce; all it takes is adding the ingredients to the blender and then heating for 15 min on the stove. It can even be used raw, but be cautioned that the garlic flavor will be very overpowering if they are not cooked and in that case probably only use 1-2 garlic cloves. I am partial to 'creamier' sauces and a creamy consistency is easily added to any sauce by mixing almonds or cashews in a 1:1 ratio with water, e.g. 1 cup water blended with 1 cup raw almonds. This almond cream can be used as a substitute for recipes calling for heavy cream. You can make the below sauce without the creaminess (i.e. leaving out the 1 cup almonds and 1 cup water), and in that case just reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp. 

Creamy Tomato Sauce Recipe
vegan, plant-based, refined sugar-free
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Ingredients:

• ​​1 cup almonds
• 1 cup water
• 1 28 oz. can of diced or whole tomatoes
• 5 cloves of garlic (or 2 if you are sensitive to garlic)
• 1 red/yellow/green pepper**
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• handful of fresh basil (or 1 Tbsp dried basil)
• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano (1/2 Tbsp dried oregano)

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend till smooth.
2. Heat on medium heat for 10-15 min.

**Note: Feel free to add any vegetables you like here. I sometimes add a few chopped carrots and a chopped onion. You can even add broccoli or cauliflower depending on what you have on hand. Sauces are a great way to "hide" vegetables and at the same time boost nutrient content.

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