During summer I crave fresh tomatoes and just this weekend we began having our first tomatoes from our garden. Armed with fresh tomatoes and a Vitamix I decided to keep our meal simple and light and make a summer marinara sauce to pour over pasta. One thing I love about my Vitamix is it cuts your prep time immensely for so many dishes. So instead of cutting tomatoes, then olives, then herbs, then onion – you pop it in the Vitamix and pulse and in a matter of minutes you have a sauce so delicious you will want to drink it. The other wonderful thing about preparing a sauce in the Vitamix, the explosion of ingredients together maximizes the flavor beyond your typical stove top sauce. Here is my recipe for Summer Marinara Sauce that will have your dinner on the table in 20 minutes.
Summer Marinara Sauce, serves 4
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cups fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1 shallot or 1/3 cup onion
7-10 basil leaves
3-4 sprigs of fresh oregano, de-stemmed
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme, de-stemmed
Salt
Pepper
4-5 purple basil leaves thinly sliced
2-3 cups pasta of your choice, prepared al dente
Directions:
In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat olive oil over medium-high heat, saute garlic and reduce heat to medium-low.
In the Vitamix put in tomatoes, olives, onion, and herbs. Pulse 3-5 times until desired consistency is reached. Pour sauce into pan with garlic and bring temperature back up to medium-high. Let bubble them reduce heat to low and let simmer for 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Pour over al dente pasta, garnish with purple basil if desired, and serve.
