Food intolerances are something we hear a lot more about these days, so many people are having trouble with their gut and are going through the process of eliminating foods and reinventing their diet to help fix the issue. Food intolerances differ from allergies, their symptoms are usually less severe but should be taken just as seriously, if left too long the damage can be a lot harder to repair.
Many people are intolerant to gluten, dairy, grains and chemical additives in our food, but there are many more sensitivities.  A good friend of ours Anita has recently discovered she has an intolerance towards night shade vegetables, this includes tomatoes, so no more pasta, pizza or lasagna when the sauce is made with tomatoes. So what do to?
How about trying this ‘Hold The Tomato’ sauce, whilst it’s not exactly like a sauce made with tomatoes it’s as good as you’re going to get. Anita made this sauce from a recipe on Detoxinista.com but found it a bit sweet, this is the adapted version which has the addition of butternut and balsamic. It’s free from chilli, capsicum and other nightshade vegetables, is low in fat, does not contain gluten, has no added sugar, is packed full of vegetables and is vegan. Use it anywhere you would usually use traditional red sauce.
‘Hold The Tomato’ Sauce
 You’ll need a large pan and a blender for this recipe. Any left over sauce keeps really well in the freezer, is best to put into portions in Kai Carrier reusable bags once cool. It will keep for about a week in the fridge.
 
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large onion, diced
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 large organic carrots, peeled and diced
3/4 cup butternut pumpkin peeled and cubed
2 medium peeled cooked beetroot
1 cup vegetable stock
Salt and pepper to season
Saute the garlic and onions in the coconut oil until soft then add the rest of your ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Bring everything to a boil then reduce and leave to simmer until the carrots and butternut are soft.
Blend in batches to a consistency that you like, add salt and pepper to get it how you like it. Use just like you would red tomato sauce.
Thanks for the sauce photo Anita Simpson and thanks for the top photo Heather Schwartz