I’ve been promising this recipe for a while now and I finally remembered to ask Kimber if I could share it. This is a family recipe from my good friend and critique partner Kimberly Gardner. My boys fell in love with it and named it Kimber Sauce and it had become a staple in our household; I make up several mason jars full and put them in the freezer and make more when the jars are gone. We are never without Kimber sauce in the house. It works for spaghetti sauce, lasagna sauce, marinara dipping sauce for breadsticks, fried mozzarella…. It’s even good on baked chicken breasts. A lot of the ingredient measurements are to taste, but I will do my best to add measurements. So in honor of Kimber’s birthday today, without further ado, I give you…
Kimber Sauce
Ingredients:
2 or 3 28oz. cans of tomato sauce (I make sure there is no added sugar)
2 or 3 28oz. cans of crushed tomatoes
a handful of chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup-3/4 cup of chopped onions (I typically use red onions but you could use white or yellow)
4-5 cloves of chopped garlic
a splash of red wine (I use cooking wine)
1 chopped green bell pepper
a handful of chopped rosemary
a jar of basil pesto (I use Mezzetta)
a few sprinkles of Italian seasoning
a dash of salt (seasoning sauce works well)
Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a large crockpot and simmer all day long. Divide into jars, cool, and put them in the freezer.
Notes:
I typically use 3 jars of tomato sauce and 3 jars of crushed tomatoes because I have a huge crockpot. For me, the yield is about 5 1/2 mason jars full of sauce. The jars last me only about a month because we use it a lot, but I suspect it will keep in the freezer longer. I hope you enjoy the recipe!