Recipe: Vegetable Pasta Sauce

Vegetable Pasta Sauce
alt.creative-cook/Eileen & Bob Holze/1996
Makes enough for 4-6 people

This sauce is great over all sorts of pasta.

1 large yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans (28 oz. each) plum tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 large zucchini, scrubbed and chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms, washed and sliced
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced -or- 4 teaspoons dried basil
1/4 cup fresh oregano, minced or 1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 carrot, grated
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried hot red chilies, crushed (or to taste)

In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil (put the onion in first, and add the garlic when the onion starts to look a little translucent) for about 10 minutes.

Run the garbanzo beans and tomatoes through a blender or food processor until they are finely chopped, but not smooth.

Add all the ingredients to the pot, and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally.

My changes were to increase the garlic, substitute a grated carrot for the honey, add oregano and mushrooms, and use another can of tomatoes rather than fresh tomatoes, and retain the texture of chopped vegetables by blending only the tomatoes and garbanzos.