Pasta Sauce

I love to make my own pasta sauce. It is versatile and can be used for spagetti with meatballs, lasagne, chicken paremsan, ziti, as pizza sauce, or for any pasta style. This is a basic recipe which can be tweaked by making several changes (listed below), actually my sauce changes EVERY time I make it.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/2 med Sweet Onion, chopped fine

3-6 Garlic Cloves, minced or put through a garlic press (NOT the jarred stuff)

1/2 - 3/4 cup good quality Red Wine (NOT cooking wine)

28oz can Crushed Tomatoes (Italian seasoned is good)

8oz can Tomato Sauce (Italian seasoned is good)

6oz can Tomato Paste

Handful of lightly chopped Fresh Oregano (or 1 1/2 tsp dried)

Baby's handful of lightly chopped Fresh Thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)

Handful of chopped Fresh Basil Leaves (or 1-2 tsp dried)

Fresh ground Pepper (to taste)

Pinch of Kosher Salt

Heat about 1-2 Tbsp Oil in a lidded pot over Med-high. Add onions and saute 1 minute, add garlic, turn heat to medium and saute until onions are golden and soft. Add wine, reduce heat slightly and simmer a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients to pot, bring just to bubbling; cover, reduce heat and simmer for at least 30 minutes (1 hour is best, but make sure it's turned down low enough to just barely simmer). Stir occasionally. Easy and delicious.

Hints and Tips:

  • As with any pasta sauce, the longer the flavors have to meld together, the better it tastes. You could start this at lunchtime, and pop it in the crock pot on low, let it simmer a few hours. Just saute the onions and garlic on the stove top, add wine and simmer. Then put that and all the other ingredients in the Crock pot.

  • A little bit goes a long way with dried herbs and spices, but you can never have too much garlic, LOL.

  • Try changing out the crushed tomatoes for Muir Glen Fire Roasted Tomatoes for a totally different flavor

  • Try using roasted garlic instead of fresh (you won't need to saute it, just mush it up and add to sauce - you may need a little more because it's milder tasting)

  • Try using Roasted Garlic Tomato Sauce

  • Don't want to use wine? Use Vegetable or Chicken broth.

I encourage you to be creative and add things that seem "right", smell spices and ask yourself if this smells like it would go with pasta or not.

Check out my cooking blog - Heathy.Tasty.Food.