Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Marinara Sauce


One of my favorite Saturday projects is whipping up a nice big batch of pasta sauce. I love my mom's recipe for this, and it's very easy to adapt it and make a meat version. It's very simple, but I'm hooked on the stuff now, and jarred sauce just won't do anymore. It tastes so much fresher!


I started the sauce by sauteing an onion in some olive oil. Once the onion has softened, I add some minced garlic and give it a minute or two to incorporate. After that, I add around half a cup of red wine and let it reduce for a few minutes. The red wine is one of the key ingredients that makes this sauce for me.  Once the wine has been going for about 5 minutes, I add some canned tomatoes- my favorite blend is one big can of crushed tomatoes, 2 cans of tomato sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. It really just depends on what you have in your cupboard and the sauce texture that you prefer. My blend is on the smoother side. At this point, I usually add some crumbled ground beef, but you could easily leave that out for a vegetarian version. I also add a little sugar, some red pepper flakes, and some italian seasoning.  At this point, the sauce doesn't taste too incorporated, but just give it at least an hour, and it'll be delicious. It makes a huge batch, but it also freezes really well- while it's a bit of a process to make, I end up with enough sauce for about 8-10 meals in my freezer. 

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