One thing that I’ve been trying to do lately, is plan out my meals a little more carefully – when I do, I tend to have less waste, which is always a good thing, and it can make my life a little easier for those nights when I don’t really feel up to making a huge productions. For instance, for dinner tonight, we had a lovely Pasta, Sausage and Marinara sauce with St. Andres Greens on the side. But the whole thing only took me about 30 minutes or so to throw together, because I made the marinara sauce several days ago, and had it ready to go in the fridge.

Mr. Man and I both, grew up in a world of jarred spaghetti sauce served over noodles, and for a long time, thats what I would think of when I thought of pasta dishes. I’ve learned to look outside the tomato for pasta dishes (see here and here), but marinara sauce will always be a comfort food, for both of us. This sauce is fairly easy, but if time is short, you can do as I did, and easily make this up ahead of time for a quick meal. The quantity here as given will yield approximately 2 quarts of Marinara Sauce. I took one quart, and pureed it in the foodprocessor to make a smoother sauce for pizza, (which we’ll be having another night). Tonight, I served it over browned and crumbled italian sausage and sauteed mushrooms with whole wheat pasta, but it’s just as delicious as a dipping sauce for garlic bread, on pizza, or any number of other dishes calling for marinara.

Ingredients:

• 2 – 28 oz cans of whole roma tomatoes
• 6 cloves garlic; finely minced
• 1 onion; diced
• 2 tbs Olive Oil
• 3 tbs Sugar
• 1/4 cup Red Wine
• 1/8 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil; finely chopped
• 1/8 cup fresh oregano; finely chopped
• 2 tbs Fresh Thyme; de-stemmed and finely minced
• Kosher Salt

Method:

• Heat the Olive Oil over medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan
• Add the onions and saute until onions are tender and translucent
• Stir in the Garlic and tomatoes, 2-3 generous pinches of kosher salt, the red wine and the sugar
• Bring to a simmer and then reduce heat, simmering until the tomatoes begin to break down a little bit, about 30-45 minutes
• Remove from heat and stir in the basil, oregano, thyme, and balsamic vinegar
• Use an immersion blender to pulse until smooth, or transfer in batches to a blender and puree until smooth
• Use immediately, or allow to cool before transfering to glass jars and refrigerating for later use