I was recently watching Lidia Bastianich's TV show, Lidia's Italy, and she made three completely different dishes, all using the same marinara sauce. How cool is that? All it took was the addition of a few minor ingredients and each dish was off and running in a different direction. I LOVE that!
This is a wonderful sauce that can be used as a starting point for any number of dishes. I'm sure there are a million different versions of this. Here's mine. I've taken a classic recipe and adjusted it so that it's a little bit thicker and sweeter than traditional marinara sauce. Feel free to adjust it to your own personal tastes.
Enjoy!
2 or 3 tbs olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1 small onion, diced
2 large cans peeled whole tomatoes
10 or 12 fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
1 tbs sugar
salt and pepper
In a large saucepan, saute garlic and onions until softened but not browned. Meanwhile, pour canned tomatoes into a large bowl. Using your impeccably clean hands, squish the tomatoes to a chunky consistency. Pour the tomatoes into the saucepan and add remaining ingredients. Give it a good stir, and simmer for about 10 minutes. That's all there is to it!
Tip:
If the sauce gets too thick, add a little water to thin it down a bit.
Be careful not to brown the garlic because it will become bitter.
For an added layer of flavor, add a few glugs of wine and then let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
1 comment:
Joey, I really liked this. Just tried it last night. Still, I thought I didn't break up the tomatoes into small enough pieces. I'm thinking I want to do the 5 second burst through the food processor on those tomato chunks, so it's a little less chunky.
Good flavor though, need to have fresh basil...
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