Photo by Michael Piazza

Catherine Smart and Jacqueline Grady Smith have developed a better alternative to pasta sauce that can be used in a multitude of ways. They call it “not just pasta sauce.” and their company “not just co.”

Catherine, a trained chef, award-winning food writer and media personality, found herself like many people with a summertime CSA overflowing with vegetables. She decided to shred and sauté the vegetables into a pasta sauce for spaghetti and meatballs, and later realized the recipe was also an excellent base for chili, enchiladas, shakshuka—the list was endless. Catherine refined the all-natural recipe, which blends 10 vegetables including tomatoes, peppers, beets, zucchini, spinach, carrots and no added sugar.

Catherine teamed up with Jacqueline, her former Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street colleague, who had a background in nutrition, operations management and strategy, to launch the company with what they envision as their first multi-use pantry staple, called “not just pasta sauce.” “There is no shortage of pasta sauces out there,” Catherine explains, “but what sets ours apart is its flavor is agnostic.” The tomato sauce spans cuisines and ethnicities and “tastes straight from the garden,” she says, adding that her son, Jack, eats the sauce by the spoonful.

The company website features a growing list of recipes using the sauce, which makes dinner better and prep that much easier. Jacqueline notes, “It’s refreshing to pull a jar off the shelf after a long day to whip up a delicious dinner in a pinch.”

With a strong focus on quality and community, the sauce can be purchased online or at local specialty markets including Formaggio Kitchen and Pemberton Farms.

notjust.co

This story appeared in the Summer 2019 issue.