Hearty Tempeh Tomato Sauce

For pasta sauce, lasagna, or anything else you use a hearty tomato sauce for…

(Serves ~4-5 with pasta)

Ingredients:

• 4 oz tempeh (I used organic 3-grain tempeh)
• 3 cups diced tomatoes (your own fresh or canned, or a great canned option from the store is Muir Glen organic tomatoes)
• 2 small yellow onions, chopped
• 1-2 shallots (or 2-3 garlic cloves), minced
• 1-2 TBSP olive oil
• 3/4-1 cup water, depending on your preference for consistency/thickness
• 2 cups broccoli, small florets
• 1/4 cup fresh basil (or 1 TBSP dried basil)
• 1 tsp sucanat (optional, if you want to cut the acidity with some sweetness)
• salt to taste
• *chopped mushrooms would be incredible in here!

Making Your Tomato Sauce:

1. On med-med/hi heat, sautee onions and shallots/garlic in olive oil with ~1 tsp coarse salt, until onions are translucent.
2. Add tempeh (sliced, then crumbled) and mushrooms if you’re using them.  Stir in and cook until browned, ~3-5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and cook ~3-5 minutes more.
4. Add water.  Blend.
5. Add sucanat and basil, cook another 1 minute.
6. Add broccoli.  Continue to heat on low-med ~10 minutes, until flavors blend and broccoli cooks a bit.
7. Serve over pasta or use for lasagna, stuffed shells, etc.  I use brown rice pasta (Tinkyada) — it’s gluten free and much lighter feeling than regular pastas.