Marinara Sauce- My way....

I'm not sure if it is obvious from previous posts but Ben and I LOVE Italian food.  We love garlic bread (too much I'm afraid) pasta, pesto, marinara, pizzas, you name it! So I thought it would be fitting to share my homemade Marinara sauce that evolved, in the beginning, as a sauce filled with things I already had in my regridgerator/pantry and is now our go-to meal whenever we need to go to the store but cannot muster up the energy.  I always seem to have the makings for something pasta related around (because as far as I know pasta noodles do not expire right??), and this past Saturday was no different.  For this recipe you can substitute, for whatever you have laying around, I definitely deviated from the regular recipe in order to use up my red onion for example, and my leftover spaghetti squash, the already opened bottle of pinot grigio, and the stale bread from the night before....feel free to make substitutions wherever you see fit!!  Also, as a side note, Ben is taking the BAR today-Thursday, good luck Ben!!

Gather up the ingredients.....

Start with your saute pan on medium high heat with 2tbs of olive oil.  Add one diced medium onion (doesn't matter the color, although I'm sure real Italians would disagree) and I used 7 cloves of chopped garlic b/c we LOVE garlic....if you don't three is probably good.....

I forgot a few pictures but before you add the wine......Add 1tsp salt, 1/2tsp of crushed red pepper, and 1/2tsp oregano.....let all saute for approx 5 minutes.  Then, deglaze the pan with 1/2cup of a dry wine (should help all the bits at the bottom to unstick). I had white so that's what I used but red would work too. (Wines that would NOT work would be, moscato, reisling, blush...anything that is sweet)  ***If you would rather not use wine, broth works just as well.

Next rule of thumb when adding alcohol to a recipe, don't add anything you would not want to drink in a glass.....I love pinot grigio...Cheers!

Next add one small (6 ounces I believe) of tomato paste...and stir into the mixture.  Then add one Large 28 ounce can of tomato sauce, I use the organic chunky tomato sauce.

Next add 1 1/2c Vegetable broth plus 1c of Water....the longer the sauce simmers the thicker it will become, so if you simmer for longer than 45 minutes you may need to add more water or broth.  I also use the combination of broth and water because sometimes, broth can add too much salt.

After you let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes and check your seasonings. Depending on the sodium in your tomato sauce, paste and broth, you may need to add more salt.  I added an additional 1/2tsp of garlic salt.

 Now chop your fresh basil--this is how you chiffonade basil.  Put the leaves one on top of the other and roll into a log type shape, then cut with your knife and you get nice chiffonade or ribbons of basil!

At the end of your simmer process, approx 30-45 minutes, add your fresh basil and let simmer another 5 minutes.

 While it is simmering, cook your pasta! I add a tablespoon of olive oil to my water to keep the pasta from sticking together.

And always a generous portion of salt approx 1-2TBS

Serve with garlic bread (sliced french bread brushed with olive oil and garlic salt, bake in oven at 350 for about 6 minutes)  **also notice, I am using the leftover spinach linguine from my Cilantro Pesto and Spinach Linguine post.....

And as usual, to save on calories I used spaghetti Squash.....

I save the calories on the pasta so that at the end of the evening I can do this with the leftover bread....dang why can't they make "bread squash" too....???

Marinara Sauce

2tbs olive oil

1 medium sized onion diced

7 cloves of garlic diced

1tsp salt

1/2tsp garlic salt

1/2tsp crushed red pepper

1/2tsp oregano

1/2c wine or broth

1 6ounce can of tomato paste

1 28 ounce can of tomato sauce

1 1/2c vegetable broth

1c water

1/2c fresh chopped basil

Preheat your pan with olive oil at a medium high heat.  Add onions and garlic and let saute for approx 5 minutes.  Next add salt, garlic salt, red pepper, and oregano and let saute for another five minutes.  Now deglaze the pan with wine or broth and let alcohol cook off for approx 3 minutes.  Now add your tomato paste and stir in so there are no clumps. Now add your tomato sauce, broth and water.  After it simmers for approx 30 minutes check for seasonings and add your fresh basil.  Serve with your favorite pasta and bread! Enjoy!