After a weekend away with all of our meals out followed by a bbq with family to wrap up the holiday festivities, I was craving some home cooked food.  With a healthy spin of course!  Feeling inspired, I hit the grocery store on my way home from work before wrangling my two little ones.  Much to my surprise one of my grocery stores in town now stocks pre-made zoodles (zucchini noodles)!  Now I know what you are thinking, YES I could make them myself but knowing that I would have to entertain my boys and do some other chores I jumped at the ease of pre-made zoodles and they were pretty reasonable!  (They even had butternut squash “zoodles” which I picked up as well so stay tuned for that!) After grabbing some kale, cauliflower (another recipe to come), milk of course and a few other things, I was on my way to get my boys and head home!

I had planned on making a kale pesto until I got home to realize I only had about a tablespoon of pine nuts, definitely not enough so that idea will have to wait.  But I always have tomatoes (jar or can) ready to go at home so I decided to make a quick and easy marinara sauce to pair with the zoodles.  The sauce is so easy that I put it together and let it cook while I emptied the dishwasher, started the laundry, tended to snack/play time for L and M.

1 jar Jovial Whole Peeled Tomatoes

1 garlic clove chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1-2 basil leaves torn

1 handful baby kale

¼ cup sliced Kalamata olives

2 cups “zoodles” (double for 2 servings)

Salt and Pepper – to taste

Put olive oil and chopped garlic in a saucepan over medium heat.  As the olive oil heats and garlic starts to soften and brown, you can prep your tomatoes.  I prefer a chunkier sauce, so I opt for break the tomatoes down by hand.  Just put them in a bowl and carefully squeeze the tomatoes to break apart.  

If you prefer a smoother sauce you can pulse in the blender or food processor.  Once the garlic begins to brown, add the tomatoes to your pan.  Season with a little salt and pepper and add the torn basil leaves.  Let cook over a medium to low heat for about 20-25 minutes.  You will see the consistency of the sauce thicken and that is your cue it is ready to go!

At the very end you can throw in whatever add-ins you might like.  I chose baby kale and Kalamata olives!  You could do spinach and mushrooms, peas and ham, or nothing at all, whatever you desire!  

You will just need to cook look enough to heat your add-ins through, I cooked it for about 3-5 minutes and it was ready to go.  Just enough for the kale to wilt and incorporate into the sauce.

If you are making traditional pasta, you can start to bring a pot of water to a boil while the sauce is cooking.  Follow the package directions but most pasta takes about 8-10 minutes depending on your preference.

For this dish, I used zoodles (zucchini noodles) that I bought at the grocery store, roughly 2 cups of hearty handful. To heat, put a small about of sauce in a pan and add the zoodles.  They will give off a lot of water as they cook and the trick is to just heat them through, about 2-4 minutes!  Any longer and you will end up with mushy zoodles 😕

Once heated through you can add a little more sauce to the top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese!

You will have plenty of sauce left over if you are only making 1 serving or 2 cups of zoodles.  Make sure to save it because you will want this deliciousness again!  I prefer to store in mason jars that work easily in the fridge or freezer!

Hope you enjoy this as much as I did! 

** Tip – keep basil frozen in the freezer. It’s easy to use in sauces and you don’t have to worry about it going bad!