Saturday, April 9, 2011

Easy Veggie Cheesy Marinara-eee



This is a great go-to sauce.  If you like artichokes (and you know I do) you'll be tempted to forget the noodles, it's so tasty.


Easy Veggie Cheesy Marinara-eee

1 onion chopped
2 tbs olive oil
2 cans tomato paste
5 cans water (from tomato paste can)
1 can of dry red wine
1 ½ cans artichoke hearts, strained (about 2 cups), then chopped (I used food processor)
½ c. grated carrot (a fun addition)
1 tsp basil
Secret weapon: a left over rind of real Parmesan (fetch out before serving)
Salt and pepper to taste


Artichokes and carrots are the stars.



T. Lawrence's man hand pictured here.  It's always nice to have help from visiting eaters.




Step 1: in go the onions and a little olive oil.  Little salt to sweat them, stir occasionally for 7 min.




Add your artichoke puree.  Not the prettiest glob.  But it will taste like veggie heaven soon!




In go the rest of the ingredients.  The carrots will soften as it simmers.


AND throw in your cheese rind!  I love this trick for soups and sauces.  Depending on the thickness, you may have to fish it out before serving.  Otherwise someone will get a nice "chunk" in their pasta.  The cheesy factor creams up the sauce and adds it's own saltiness, so go easy on the salt till the later part of cooking.




I've made this sauce plenty of times with just water and not wine, but I find a dry red will add a simple depth of flavor if you have some around.


Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer with lid ajar for 1 ½ hrs, stir occasionally.  Add more water if needed, but you want it to thicken.

Serve over favorite pasta with or without chicken.





2 comments:

  1. I like the addition of the artichokes a lot. Who needs jar spaghetti sauce? Pasta is my easy preferred go-to quick meal.

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  2. Just reading your blog for the first time! I love marinara sauce so much that whenever my Mom makes it I eat some like soup. This would be perfect for me so I could get some veggies in too.

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