Thick Tomato Sauce With A Secret

“Secret secrets are no fun, secret secrets hurt someone”

Secrets are never good. Someone always ends up crying alone on the swing set during recess. But enough about my childhood. This sauce has a secret: It’s actually healthy for you, and it’s healthy because there’s an extra serving of vegetables in it. You’d never guess from tasting it, but cauliflower—not cream—is what makes this sauce so thick. I won’t tell if you won’t tell.

Cauliflower Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 cup steamed cauliflower OR 1 cup raw cauliflower, steamed
• 3 Tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil

If you’re working with raw cauliflower to begin with, chop it up and steam it until it’s soft and reduced to about half of its size.

Combine the tomato sauce, cauliflower, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a food processor and process until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the processor as needed to make sure no clumps remain.

Fold in the fresh basil. Toss with pasta and season to taste.

Another secret: I don’t like pasta, so I took one taste and gave this away before making myself another dinner. But I could have drank the sauce, and pasta is nothing without sauce.