It’s National Spaghetti Day!  Pasta (along with most other bready carbs) holds a very special place in my heart, so when I received a Facebook notification this morning from one of the groups that I follow that January 4th has been set aside to celebrate the dish, I was pretty enthused.  I’ve been shouting it from the rooftops all day long, no lie.

Of course, we’re observing the holiday by cooking up a batch of homemade spaghetti sauce and spooning it over some gluten free pasta with a little Asiago cheese to top it off!

Here’s my basic recipe, if you’d like to try it out!  It makes about 1 QT:

• about 8 medium sized, vine-ripened tomatoes (or two 14 oz cans of stewed tomatoes, with juices) ***
• one of those baby sized cans of tomato paste/one 5 oz squeezy tube (or a generous half cup of homemade–more on that later!)
• some mushrooms, green bell pepper, jalapeno, onion/green onions, and garlic cloves–you decide how much of/whether to include each depending on your taste.  I usually use whatever I have on hand and just make sure I have enough of it to make a good amount of sauce.  But, ideally, it would be 3 mushrooms, one large bell pepper, one small onion or several green onions, one jalapeno, and two very large garlic cloves. (I hate mushrooms and my husbandabhorsbell peppers, but they totally make this sauce!)
• one tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup bone broth (or any other kind you may want to use)
• salt and pepper to taste
• honey to taste

For the best flavor, slice and sauté all of your veggies other than the tomatoes in the butter until soft and caramelized, about 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes (if you’re using fresh, cut them in half or quarters) and the broth, and simmer on medium/low for half an hour–covered.

If you’re feeling lazy, as I was tonight, just throw everything into a blender/food processor, then let the mixture simmer!

In the meantime, you can cook your noodles and whatever else you might be having.

After you’re done simmering, mix in your salt, pepper, and honey!  I like a pretty generous amount of honey, as I enjoy a sweeter spaghetti sauce.  Especially since it really complements the saltiness of the sharp Asiago/Parmesan cheeses that I prefer!

***It should be noted that I’ve seen a few alarming articles circulating about the harmful chemicals in the lining of many canned tomatoes.  I haven’t really looked into it yet, but I wanted to put it out there just so you’re aware–you may want to look into it yourself, in the meantime!

That’s it!

Happy National Spaghetti Day!