Marinara Madness

i have been meaning to make some marinara sauce and i finally got around to it this evening. it was the first time i used this recipe (adapted from barefoot contessa). it turned out really well. i'm not really into canning so i am going to freeze portions of it.

---

Chianti Marinara Sauce

3 tbs olive oil
2 onions, diced
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 c chianti wine (or other red you have on hand)
2- 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes (make sure they have no added sugar)
2 tbs fresh chopped parsley
2 tbs fresh chopped basil
salt and pepper

saute onions in olive oil till softened. add garlic and cook 1 minute. add wine and simmer till reduced by half. add crushed tomatoes and herbs and simmer 1-2 hours till thickened. add salt and pepper to taste.

---

i cooked up some ground beef and added it to half of the marinara to make meat sauce. you could also use fresh, peeled tomatoes and let them break down. then use immersion blender to smooth it out.

after the sauce was ready i was really hungry from cooking all afternoon. i didn't want to wait for water to boil for spaghetti so i put some sauce on top of some cooked quinoa. i was surprised how good it was. i mean, it was delicious. i ate 2 bowls:)

for those of you who have never heard of quinoa or have never tried it - you must. i will dedicate a post to this fantastic super-grain soon, but for now, here is the recipe for the simple quinoa i made this evening.

---

Italian Quinoa

1 c cooked quinoa
1/2 c chianti marinara sauce
1 tbs grated parmesan

stir it up and enjoy!

---