May I please tell you about the homemade spaghetti sauce I made last night with fresh tomatoes? Yum. It was nice. And even better I made it into a pasta bake. Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures because I was afraid it would turn out for the worst. I need to start taking pictures anyway because the things I think will be awesome end up being yucky and the things I think may be gross, end up being dinner sensations.

You like that? Dinner sensations? I thought you would!

Anyway, in your food processor you put the following:

• 2 roughly chopped tomatoes
• 1 small (6oz) can of tomato paste
• ¼ cup roughly chopped onion
• ½ cup fresh basil
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• A few sprigs of fresh oregano
• 1 clove of garlic (also roughly chopped)

You blend that until it’s the consistency you want (I would have liked mine a little smoother, but c’est la spaghetti sauce). Then let it simmer at medium heat for about 30 minutes. Or in my case while you take an accidental 45 minute nap with Mitten Head.

After the sauce is nice and… hot. Preheat the oven to 350 and now you can boil your noodles (I made whole wheat rotini pasta). When those are finished, put them in a baby casserole dish, cover them with the sauce (or mix the two together beforehand like Sean wished I had done and put them in the casserole), and sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top.

Or if you’re Sean, dump the whole bag of shredded mozzarella on top.

Then place the casserole dish in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is just starting to brown. Take out and enjoy. Yum!

This recipe was adapted from Mama Pea’s Homemade Spaghetti Sauce in her new cookbook, Peas and Thank You.