Garden Fresh Marinara Sauce

I'm sort of embarrassed to admit this, but I have to trick my kids to get them to eat their vegetables. I mean, being a food blogger and all one might think that my kids have well rounded meals with exotic spices and a wide variety of proteins and vegetables, but in reality I'm just like you.  My kids want pb&j, plain spaghetti with butter, and chicken nuggets and french fries.  Getting them to eat carrot sticks with ranch dressing feels like a victory.  I have been known to consider ketchup a vegetable.  (It's made from tomatoes!)

Sneaking zucchini into brownie mix has happened around here!  Butternut squash macaroni & cheese is also a trick I use...

Basically what I'm saying is I have picky eaters, so if you're like me, give this sauce a try.  And hey, if your kids won't eat it, at least you've already made the plain pasta...

Ingredients:
1 onion diced
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 cans of tomatoes (whole peeled, diced, doesn't matter)
1 large eggplant diced into 2" chunks
3 zucchini diced into 2" chunks
2 green bell peppers diced into 2" chunks
1/2 cup red wine
olive oil
salt & pepper
dried italian seasoning

Directions:
You will need 1 heavy bottomed pot such as a dutch oven and a large non-stick skillet.  Heat non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add olive oil, onions and garlic, salt and pepper.  When the onions turn translucent spoon them into the dutch oven.  Add a little more olive oil and then saute the eggplant, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Repeat all steps until all of the fresh veggies have been sauteed and are golden brown and soft.  Add the two cans of tomatoes to the dutch oven and stir all vegetables to combine.  Place dutch oven over medium high heat, add wine and cover.  Stir every few minutes.  All vegetables should begin to fall apart.  Using an immersion blender puree the vegetables until they are smooth.  Add italian seasoning and check to see if the sauce needs more salt and pepper.  If the sauce is too thick you can add a little water to thin it out.  If you like spice add a pinch of red pepper flake.   Serve with meatballs & spaghetti. (Unless you are vegan or vegetarian!)