Sautéed Vegetable Pasta Sauce with Ground Turkey

Some of the fresh veggies I used 

I started messing around with creating a pasta sauce that was more veggie intensive a few months ago and came up with this. It is now one of my most favorite dishes. It is super healthy, delicious, and makes a large batch ideal for freezing. You could easily make this completely vegetarian by omitting the ground turkey and using more veggies. Also, if you don't have one of the vegetables listed you can substitute another that you think would go well in a pasta sauce. The last time I made this I had some extra portabella mushrooms lying around so I added them in along with everything else. 

Happy cooking!

Sautéed Vegetable Turkey Pasta Sauce

1 Zucchini sliced

1 Summer Squash sliced

1 Eggplant sliced and quartered and peeled*

1 Onion diced

2 Tomatoes diced (optional)

2 Red Bell Peppers diced

16 oz Ground Turkey

1 ½ - 2 Jars pre-made Tomato based pasta sauce (preferably low salt and sugar)**

3-4 Generous Squirts Sriracha Chili Sauce

1 ½ tbl. Tarragon

1 ½ tbl. Basil

2 teas. Oregano

Olive Oil

Salt to taste

Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Whole Wheat Pasta cooked according to package directions

Put spices and pre-made pasta sauce into a large pot and begin to heat on low. Then brown onions and ground turkey and put it in the sauce. Roast eggplant at 450 for 20 minutes and add to sauce. Saute the zucchinin, squash, and red bell peppers together until they start to soften and brown/caramelize and then add them to the pot. Add diced tomatoes to the pot and put in Siriachi chili sauce until food reaches desired spiciness. Cook until tomatoes have softened or the sauces flavors has melded (about 30-60 minutes) and serve over whole wheat pasta.

** May substitute plain tomato sauce but if you do I recommend adding extra spices 

* You may substitute more zucchini or squash instead of using eggplant if you wish