Red Sauce with Yellow Squash, Zucchini, and Pork

Bad news, we're still stuck at home. Good news, the garden is in! This means we need to start using up the veggies we put aside last season to make room for the glut (hopefully) of new produce! This recipe was really nothing more than a desperate attempt to use up two pounds of squash and zucchini. It actually was quite tasty and works really well with rotini pasta (yes, I know the picture shows linguine. We had it with rotini the next day). My only complaint was that we used sliced squash and zucchini that we had frozen. I wasn't a huge fan of the consistency, and in the future will chop them instead. The Wife said they were fine and I was just being nitpicky. That could be. I have some weird consistency issues with some food. That aside, it was easy to make and good. It also converts easily to vegetarian by simply leaving out the meat. This sauce could also be served over rice if you wanted a more goulash vibe.

Red Sauce with Yellow Squash, Zucchini,
 and Pork

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground pork (ground beef or ground Italian sausage would work, too)
• 1 pound zucchini, chopped
• 1 pound yellow squash, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, cut into 1" strips
• 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, with liquid
• 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. In a large pan (I used a 5 quart Dutch oven), heat oil over medium heat. Add ground meat and brown (my meat did not yield much grease, so I didn't drain it. You may find you need to depending what you used).
2. Add zucchini, squash, onion, and peppers. Cook for about 7-10 minutes, stirring regularly to make sure the veggies cook evenly. (If you like the veggies with more snap, shorten the time. Lengthen the time if you want your veggies to be a bit mushier.)
3. Add the tomatoes, paste sauce, and seasoning. Stir to get the tomato paste evenly mixed. 
4. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.