“Leftover” Marinara Sauce

A few days ago I made an Italian pot roast with mushroom sauce.  When I cooked my roast, I wanted my broth to be extremely flavorful.  I’ve learned over the years that veggies, especially the “trinity” of carrots, onions, and celery will give a depth to the liquid it cannot otherwise obtain.  I knew I wasn’t going to want to serve the veggies with my meal due to the presentation I was going for.  But I wasn’t going to waste them by any means.  I set them aside.  Inspiration struck and I realized I had the building blocks for a basic, but hearty marinara sauce. Plus a quick one at that since almost all the veggies were cooked.

The veggies are left rather large when cooking in the roast, so I cut them smaller or bite size for making the sauce.

4 cups of left over Italian pot roast veggies with broth

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small zucchini; quartered and sliced

½ can (about 3 oz.) tomato paste

2 oz water +/-

1-2 garlic cloves

1½ tsp dried basil

Pinch of sugar

Salt/Pepper to taste

In a heated pan with olive oil add the zucchini and begin to cook it, about 2 minutes.  Add the canned tomatoes, leftover veggies/broth, garlic, tomato paste, water, basil, and sugar.  Bring to a low boil/high simmer.  Salt and pepper as needed for taste.  The sauce will thicken.  Serve over chicken, noodles, rice, or straight out of the pan with just some parmesan cheese and a fork.