Who says a delicious meat sauce has to be served over pasta? You can definitely serve this sauce over pasta, but try it over these roasted vegetables for a change!
This sauce has amazingly deep flavor thanks to roasted garlic. Definitely don’t skip this step–regular garlic won’t be the same. If you’ve never roasted garlic at home, don’t be intimidated. It’s super simple and cooks right along with the roasted vegetables!
I used to make a version of this recipe using jarred sauce, but the little extra effort it takes to make this homemade sauce is absolutely worth it. I can’t WAIT to hear how you like this because I’m about ready to put this sauce over pretty much everything…
Ingredients:
Roasted Vegetables (& Roasted Garlic for the sauce):
*feel free to change up the vegetables if there are others your family likes better (Carrots, broccoli & cauliflower are other options I swap in often!)
2 large sweet potatoes
1 onion
1 green pepper
4 small zucchinis
8 oz. sliced mushrooms (optional)
4 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. italian seasoning
2 tsp. garlic salt
freshly cracked black pepper
4 Tbsp. finely shredded parmesan cheese
1 head garlic
olive oil for drizzling over garlic
Meat Sauce:
1 lb. 4 oz. mild italian turkey sausage (or pork), casings removed
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 Tbsp. italian seasoning
1 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional, depending on your spice preference)
2 bay leaves
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
6 oz. can tomato paste
1/4 C. water
mashed roasted garlic
salt & pepper to taste
parmesan cheese, for serving
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 415 degrees F. Line two sheet pans with aluminum foil & spray with cooking spray.
Start the sauce: In a large pot on the stove over medium heat, add the sausage and diced onion. Keep an eye on the sausage and onions, breaking up the sausage and browning as you prep the vegetables.
Prepare the vegetables: Cut the sweet potatoes, onion, green pepper & zucchini into 1 inch pieces. Try to cut the vegetables into consistent sized pieces so they cook evenly. Spread the mushrooms, sweet potatoes, onion, green pepper & zucchini evenly on the two sheet prepared sheet pans.
Drizzle vegetables with the olive oil and sprinkle with italian seasoning, garlic salt, and freshly cracked pepper. Toss to evenly coat, then spread the vegetables evenly on the pans.
Roasted garlic: cut off the top of the head of garlic just until you can see the tops of the cloves. You can remove any loose pieces of the papery shell, but do not peel completely. Place the garlic head in a small sheet of aluminum foil and coat the tops of the cloves and the papery skin with plenty of olive oil. Wrap the foil around the garlic to cover and place it on one of the pans with the vegetables.
Place vegetables in the preheated oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes, flipping once half way through. 5 minutes before the vegetables are done, take out the garlic in the aluminum foil pack and sprinkle the parmesan cheese evenly over the vegetables. Place the vegetables back in the oven to melt the cheese for the remaining 5 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, finish the sauce:
Brown the turkey & break up into small pieces. Drain any excess grease once browned. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot and stir to incorporate (italian seasoning, basil, oregano, bay leaves, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste & water). Cover & simmer on low heat for 25-30 minutes.
Once the roasted garlic comes out of the oven, squeeze the cloves out of the papery shell into a bowl (let it cool slightly until you’re able to safely handle the head of garlic). Mash garlic cloves with a fork–they will be softened from roasting. Once mashed, stir into the sauce. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce.
To serve: Place a generous serving of roasted vegetables in the bottom of each bowl, top with sauce & add sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired!
Store leftover vegetables and sauce in separate containers in the fridge.