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Heirloom Tomatoes Pasta Sauce

Sharon Palmer

Looking for a way to highlight heirloom tomatoes? This recipe for Heirloom Tomatoes Pasta Sauce is the perfect way to feature those fresh seasonal tomatoes when they are in abundance. Whether you’ve got oodles of heirloom tomatoes growing in your garden, or you brought back some doozies from the farmers market or supermarket, you can make the most amazing, delicious, and nutritious pasta sauce in the world out of your own kitchen. I add eggplant and zucchini—summer veggie staples—to further enrich the Mediterranean flavors of this healthy pasta sauce. It’s easy, too! Just follow this simple pasta sauce recipe and enjoy the sauce on pasta, lentil patties, pizza, flatbread, casseroles, or grilled vegetables. The sky is the limit! 

What are heirloom tomatoes?

These are open-pollinated tomatoes that are naturally pollinated—they are not genetically modified for specific characteristics suitable for supermarkets. In fact, heirloom tomatoes are varieties that farmers have bred over many years, saving the seeds of a particularly beautiful tomato, and then replanting it the next year. Like a family heirloom, the farmers cherished these varieties of tomatoes. Today, we have hundreds of varieties that come in beautiful colors, tastes, and shapes, such as Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Black Krim, Zebra, and Pineapple. 

When they are in season, I can get a basket filled with tomatoes daily from just a few productive plants.

A pot of Heirloom Tomatoes Sauce cooking on my stove. 

I love the softer shades of this sauce, which takes on the colors of the tomatoes you choose to use. My batch used a lot of yellow and golden tomatoes, thus coloring it with softer, golden tones. If you use more dark reddish-purple tomatoes, the color will take on a more wine-colored shade. Make a big batch and include this healthy sauce all week long, or freeze it in airtight containers to use in the future.

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Heirloom Tomatoes Pasta Sauce


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  • Author: The Plant-Powered Dietitian
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

You can make the best pasta sauce out of heirloom tomatoes fresh from the garden. This easy healthy pasta sauce recipe (which is vegan and gluten-free) features fresh tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, and herbs. Serve this Heirloom Tomatoes Pasta Sauce with your favorite pasta, pizza recipe, or veggie-burger for a delicious meal.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium eggplant, diced
  • 1 medium zucchini, diced
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 8 cups chopped ripe heirloom tomatoes (use whatever variety you desire, making sure to reserve and use the juice leftover from chopping)
  • ¼ cup chopped basil leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried)
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried)
  • ¼ cup chopped oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried)
  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar (optional)
  • Salt and pepper, as desired (optional)

Instructions

  1. Heat olive oil in a large 1 gallon pot or Dutch oven. Add eggplant, zucchini, onion, and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes.
  2. Add remaining ingredients, cover, and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cook until thickened, and tomatoes are very soft and the consistency is thick. May add water if mixture gets too thick.
  3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  4. If you prefer a creamier sauce, pour the mixture into batches in a blender and pulse for just 5-10 seconds, just enough to make a smooth texture with some remaining lumps. Alternatively, you can serve the sauce without blending it (as pictured above).
  5. Makes 12 servings (about 1 cup each). Serve as desired with pasta, nut loafs, patties, sandwiches, vegetables, side-dishes, and more. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week. Freeze in airtight containers for up to 6 months.

Notes

Freeze this sauce in airtight containers for use in your favorite recipes later.

I love to serve this pasta sauce recipe with cooked pasta in these pasta bowls.

  • Prep Time: 18 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour
  • Category: Sauce
  • Cuisine: American

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 serving
  • Calories: 54
  • Sugar: 5 g
  • Sodium: 10 mg
  • Fat: 1.5 g
  • Saturated Fat: 0 g
  • Carbohydrates: 10 g
  • Fiber: 3.5 g
  • Protein: 2 g
  • Cholesterol: 0 mg

Use this pasta sauce in some of my favorite recipes that call for marinara or pasta sauce, or as a dipping sauce for some of these delicious plant-based recipes:

Swiss Chard Pecan Vegan Lasagna
Vegan Cauliflower Spinach Lasagna
Arugula Salad Pizza
Zucchini Oat Veggie Patties

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