Fauxmato Nightshade-free "Tomato" Sauce
For cocktail sauce, follow the Ketchup variation and add grated horseradish or wasabi to desired hot-ness!
Tom”a”to or Tom”ah” to, no matter how you say it, nightshades, like tomatoes, can be particularly problematic for many of us, yet so many recipes rely on that familiar tomato sauce flavor. Not only is this sauce nightshade free, it is super versatile and can be a stunt double in many tomato sauce based recipes; my family loves it as the base for Sloppy Joes or Cocktail sauce, and and it works perfectly in my Meatloaf recipe, too.
It is written as a base sauce with variations because why reinvent the wheel. Its a pretty versatile tomato-less tomato sauce.
Ingredients
3 T fat
2 yellow onions, finely diced (1/2c reserved)
8 cloves of garlic, crushed (4 cloves, minced, reserved for Marinara)
1 lb carrots, shredded or fine dice (TJ’s Carrots of Many Colors provide a good balance of color for end sauce)
1 med beet, shredded or fine dice
2 cups broth/stock
2 tsp pink salt (1 tsp reserved)
½ lemon, juiced
1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped
½ cup Beet Juice (if desired- really gives great color)
1-3 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (to adjust acidity)
For Marinara:
1/3 - ½ cup Basil, chiffonade
2 T Oregano, minced
¼ cup Parsley, minced
Equipment
Medium Sauce Pot
Blender, Immersion or jar
Method
Base “Tomato” Sauce:In Medium Saucepan heat 2 T oil over medium heat, add 1.5 c onion, cook until softened. Add half the salt and half of the garlic. Cook until most of the moisture has evaporated. Add beet and carrots, tossing to coat in oil. Add lemon juice and stock. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes until beets and carrots are completely softened.
Remove from heat, transfer to blender, puree until smooth. Add beet juice and/or additional stock as necessary to thin to desired consistency.
For Marinara:
Prepare Tomato Sauce according to recipe directions.
In pan heat remaining 1 T of oil over medium heat, add reserved onion, garlic and remaining salt; cook until wilted and golden. Turn heat to low, add beet/carrot puree. Stir in Basil, Oregano and Parsley. Add Apple Cider Vinegar 1T at a time until desired acidity level, taste frequently.
Notes: Stores in the fridge up to 5 days, freezes well. We like to make a big batch and freeze in an ice cube tray for small portions, and zipper bags for larger 1 cup portions for other recipes. Makes Approx 5 cups.
January 2020 update! Welcome to the new year! If you are juicing and wondering to yourself what to do with all that juicer pulp and the thought of throwing it in the compost or trash makes you cringe , this recipe could easily become your new best friend. If you’re anything like me, food waste is something I generally go out of my way to avoid, after all, I pay a pretty penny for all of my organic produce and love to be able to get the most bang for my buck. Recently I juiced some carrots, beets and apples and used the pulp to make a batch of this AIP no-mato sauce and it was FANTASTIC (and practically free since I was using reclaimed veggies)
Nutrition info is for one cup of base sauce. Variations may change nutrition info significantly