Summer Spaghetti Sauce

Time for spaghetti sauce!  This is more of a concept than a recipe.  I like chunky sauces and have been known to go overboard with additions.  In the summer, I love to add fresh vegetables from the garden.  What winds up in the pot depends on what we have on hand.

Summer Spaghetti Sauce

1 jar of sauce - homemade, store bought, whatever you like and any/all/most of the following:

summer squash - sliced

onion - chopped or sliced

garlic - smashed

Roma tomatoes quartered.

mushrooms - whole or sliced

black olives - whole or sliced

sweet peppers - chopped in hunks

fresh oregano

fresh basil 

ground beef and/or Italian sausage OR chicken

Use a big heavy bottomed pot.  Cook the meat first, then saute the other stuff.  Add the sauce.  Simmer while you cook the pasta.  Summer Sauce freezes really well, so make a double batch for a day when you want to eat homemade but don't want to cook.

Tonight's version consisted of 2 leftover cooked chicken breasts, onion, garlic, red and green bell peppers, a small zucchini,  and fresh basil.  We made the sauce in the time it took to bring the water to a boil and cook the pasta.

This is one of the most effective ways I have found to get the family to eat a whole mess of vegetables without blinking.  Oh, and it tastes really good.