Mama Celeste’s Spaghetti Sauce

My mom raised me on this meatless sauce and our son grew up on it, too.

Use organic everything if you can.

2 15 ounce cans of tomato sauce
2 small cans of tomato paste
3 large garlic cloves or 4 small
2 T olive oil
1 T dried oregano or more, if you love it
1 T dried basil or more, if you love it
2 T agave syrup (you can use sugar or honey or nothing)
1 tsp sea salt
2 large bay leaves

When I use a crock pot, I do it like this: sauté the garlic cloves in olive oil and add to the crock pot. Add the tomato sauce and paste, the spices, agave, salt, bay leaves, plus a tomato sauce can full of water. Stir well and cover. Set on low for 8 hours.

If you’re cooking it on the stove, a heavy pot is best—cast iron if you have it. Sauté the garlic in the olive oil, add the rest, plus the can of water, stir well and bring to a boil. Then cover and turn on low, stirring frequently—every half hour at least. Cook for at least two hours on low. Like chili, the longer the better, but you can get away with two hours on the stove.

Options:

Have fun with the recipe. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water. If it’s too sweet, cut back on the sweetener. Not sweet enough, add more sweetener.

Aunt Teresa would add a carrot or two, pureed, for health.

If you like vegetables in your spaghetti sauce, go for it.