Vegetable Spaghetti Sauce

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup diced carrot
• 4 cups chopped zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 4 ounces canned sliced mushrooms, drained (*see note)
• 2 (26 -32 ounce) jars traditional premium spaghetti sauce
• cooked spaghetti
• kraft's grated parmesan cheese

Recipe

• 1 in a dutch oven, over medium to medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil.
• 2 add the onion, carrots, zucchini, and red pepper flakes.
• 3 saute/cook vegetables for 4 minutes; stirring often.
• 4 then add the green bell peppers, and cook for 3 minutes more; stirring often.
• 5 add both jars of the spaghetti sauce, and the canned mushrooms, and stir.
• 6 when sauce starts to come to a boil, within a few minutes, lower heat to a simmer, then cover, and simmer the vegetable/spaghetti sauce for 15 minutes.
• 7 serve sauce over cooked spaghetti, and top with grated parmesan cheese.
• 8 *note: 10/19/09 today i made this sauce, but with a few modifications. instead of adding canned mushrooms, i sautéed 8-ounces of fresh, sliced, mushrooms, in a seperate skillet along with 1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons of butter. i cooked the mushrooms over a medium-high heat for about 6-7 minutes. i also cut the zucchini and bell peppers into 3/4-inch pieces. i sauted the zucchini along with the carrots and onion, for 7 minutes, and after i added the bell peppers, i then added a 3/4 teaspoon of the red pepper flakes, and i sauted the entire vegetables for 6 to 8 minutes more. finally i added the cooked mushrooms, the 2 jars of pasta sauce, and i threw in a pound of already cooked italian meatballs, and simmered the sauce with the meatballs, while i cooked the spaghetti. this made a large pot full (to feed more than 6 people), and the sauce was nice and thick.