ingredients
2 T	olive oil
1	onion, chopped
1	carrot, chopped
2	garlic cloves, minced
1 T ea.	basil, oregano, thyme
1	bay leaf
1 t	red pepper flakes
1 c	textured vegetable protein
2 T	soy sauce or liquid aminos
1 c	vegetable broth
6 oz can	tomato paste
28 oz can	crushed tomatoes

method

Saute onions and carrots in oil on medium heat in a large pot for 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian herbs; mix well and add oil if the pan is dry. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. If cooking pasta, start the water now.

Add the TVP dry and stir to coat. Quickly add the soy sauce and vegetable broth to rehydrate it. Stir to coat the TVP well, scraping the side of the pan. Simmer for 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste, mix, and cook for a minute or two. Add crushed tomatoes and stir to distribute.

Simmer the sauce until it’s done or until the pasta’s done.

review

This recipe’s always a hit – I’ve made it many times, for holidays, dinners, everything, and it’s always met with “YUM”s. Sometimes I put diced canned tomatoes instead of crushed, and it also works. Oh, and last night I had no thyme so I used some Herbs de Provence, which also was great. This recipe got me started on my saga of sauces that I’m still following. I learned a lot making this dish, and I feel kind of bad because I don’t even know where it came from. But I’m sure that whoever came up with it is in pasta heaven, so they’re doing okay.