SIBO Friendly Spaghetti Sauce

Technically this is a marinara (no meat) tomato sauce, but you can easily convert it to “bolognese” style. Double the batch and freeze the leftovers: it’s perfect for a busy weeknight meal… simply serve over zucchini noodles (“zoodles”), baked spaghetti squash, or baked eggplant, or if you have more time, use the sauce with our meat balls recipe, or in our vegetarian eggplant parmigiana.

Ingredients:

1 full sized jar of canned tomatoes, or 1 – 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 TBL fresh oregano, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 to 1/3 cup old (stale) red wine (read about this here >)
Small chunk of old / dried / hard aged cheese*

Optional “bolognese” style:

Cook and add 1 pound ground beef, ground pork, ground lamb, or 4 diced chicken thighs to sauce during the last hour.

Instructions:

Put all the ingredients in a medium sized, heavy-bottomed pot. Cook as long as you have time for… the longer / slower the cooking, the more flavor will develop (I like to cook it for at least 2-3 hours, or simmer it all day on the back burner.) Once it is well cooked, use a stick blender to make the sauce consistent, adjust the seasoning, and continue to cook / simmer until you’re ready to use it.

*I like to save hard cheeses in the fridge; they’re perfect for adding to sauces for extra flavor and richness. You can grate it, or if you’re able to simmer the sauce for a few hours, add the chunk as-is —most of the time they melt completely (give the sauce a stir before serving to make sure).