Authentic Italian Marinara Sauce

So many Italian dishes depend on the quality of your red sauce! Once you've mastered this simple recipe, you can apply it to so many of your favorite Italian foods! Use this sauce as a base for chicken parmesan, eggplant parmesan, chicken cacciatore, and even meatballs and sauce!

Marinara sauce traditionally is a meat-less sauce. As you can see from the recipe below, you can experiment with lots of different veggies and herbs. Try it a few different ways to see how you like it best. It can be as simple (or as complicated) as you like.

Let's talk about herbs for a minute. It's easy to find dried herbs in the spice aisle of your local supermarket. Certainly, these types of herbs are acceptable. However, your sauce with have much more "personality" if you substitute the real thing for those dried alternatives. Many supermarkets will sell freshly packaged herbs (such as basil & oregano) in the produce section, and some even sell the live plants! The same thing applies to garlic and onion. You could use garlic powder and onion powder, but there truly is no substitute for fresh garlic and fresh onions. You can always use both the powders and the fresh ingredients to really spice up your sauce. There are several types of onions, and I recommend a sweet yellow or a vidalia onion for your sauce.

So ... let's get cooking!!

Ingredients:

• 1 large can plain tomato sauce *
• ½ Cup Chianti wine
• 1 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Small onion – diced
• 3 Large cloves of garlic – sliced, minced or chopped
• 1 Sprig Fresh basil
• ½ Red roasted bell pepper – diced
• ½ Green bell pepper – diced

Seasonings:

I don’t measure … I judge by look & smell

• Salt & pepper (I prefer sea salt)
• Oregano (fresh or dried)
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Paprika
• 1 dash of sugar (to cut down acidity)
• 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar

Optional Veggies:

You can add variety to your sauce by adding any one (or all) of these

• Sliced mushrooms
• Sliced sun-dried tomatoes
• Sliced black olives
• Chopped artichoke hearts

Instructions:

1. Heat olive oil in saucepan
2. Toss in onions & garlic and sauté on medium/low heat
3. Add in red & green peppers (and other optional veggies)
4. When onions are clear, pour in red wine and turn up heat to boil off alcohol
5. Add in tomato sauce
6. Stir in seasonings, sugar & balsamic vinegar
7. Top with sprigs of fresh basil & fresh oregano
8. Let simmer on low for at least 30 minutes

*If you feel like you want to give your arms a workout, forego the canned tomato sauce and buy several pounds of plum tomatoes. Blanche them in hot water and then process through a foley mill to yield fresh tomato sauce.