Very Veggie Tomato Sauce

I LOVE tomato sauce!  Give me that and some good crusty bread and I am good to go!  Tomato sauce is a wonderful and healthy sauce to have on hand, and I always make extra to freeze for the next recipe that calls for it.  I wanted to make this one extra healthy, packing it with veggies, and I swear it is so yummy, the kids will never know that it is full of healthy stuff!  Use it for spaghetti, lasagna, chicken parmesan, you name it!  This is definitely one the whole family will love!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 medium zucchini, diced

1 bell pepper (whatever happens to be cheaper or on sale (red, green, or those little sweet peppers that come in all colors)), just make sure you have around 3/4 to 1 cup, seeds removed, diced

2 28oz cans diced tomatoes

1/4 cup basil, roughly chopped

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil over med high heat in large saucepan or dutch oven.  Add onions and carrots, and cook for about 5 minutes.  Then add garlic, zucchini, and bell pepper, and continue to cook until all veggies are softened, about another 5  to 10 minutes.  Add tomatoes (including juices), basil, salt, and pepper, and let it come up to a boil.  Once at a boil, place lid on, and turn down to medium low, and let simmer for at least 1 hour (the longer the better, I let mine go for 2 hours), stirring occasionally.  Then with an immersion blender (or you can do this in batches in a regular blender), puree the sauce until desired smoothness (I like mine just a bit chunky).  Use half for whatever you are making that night, and freeze the other half for another time!