Nightshade-Free Spaghetti Sauce

Tomato sauce is threaded through so many family meals that removing it can feel like losing a piece of how you cook, not just one ingredient. This sauce doesn't ask you to cook without that anchor. It rebuilds the same color, the same weight in the pan, the same reason to make a big pot on a Sunday, from pumpkin, beet, and carrot instead.

The bone broth simmered into this sauce for 30 to 35 minutes is where the real gut-supporting case gets made. Glycine, an amino acid concentrated in broth, is one of the raw materials your gut lining uses as it works to repair itself, a body project that runs quietly underneath everything else while your immune system finds its way back to calm. Beets are where most of the color comes from, plus betalains, plant pigments researched for a possible anti-inflammatory role.

Brown the beef fully before the vegetables ever hit the pan. That patience is what actually gives a real meat sauce its flavor. Tomato was never doing the work people assume it does.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 6 large cloves garlic, minced
• Red wine: omitted for AIP elimination phase (alcohol excluded; see note)
• 1 can (15 oz) pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup grated beet
• 1/2 cup beef bone broth
• 1/4 cup finely grated carrot
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• Sea salt to taste (approximately 1 1/2 teaspoons)

Note on red wine: The source includes 1/2 cup red wine as an optional ingredient, cooked off. Alcohol is excluded on AIP elimination. Red wine vinegar is a separate ingredient and is compliant; it stays in the recipe.

Method

1. Place a large skillet or heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until fully browned. Drain excess fat if needed but leave a little for flavor.
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Add the pumpkin puree, grated beet, beef bone broth, and grated carrot. Stir everything together until the beef is evenly coated.
4. Add the dried oregano, dried basil, red wine vinegar, and sea salt. Stir to combine.
5. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, then reduce heat to low. Cook uncovered for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the flavors meld.
6. Taste and adjust salt as needed. Serve hot over cassava pasta, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash.

*Adapted from Wendi's AIP Kitchen*