Veggies & Wine

posted by Deb on Thursday, January 14, 2010

My husband has been on me to learn to make “Italian gravy” like his grandmother for years but I’ve never been able to replicate his grandmother’s sauce. Last night was a stroke of luck so I must document the recipe. My husband actually said “this sauce is good”. Holy crap!

The red wine adds a lovely flavor and also keeps the sauce low-fat.

Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup red wine
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 3/4 – 1 cup red wine (depending on how thick you like your sauce)

Directions:

1. Saute garlic in 1/4 cup red wine until fragrant – about 1 minute.
2. Add remaining ingredients except additional red wine. Bring to boil then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. I don’t like a heavy bay leaf taste so I remove after ~15 minutes.

That’s it .. pretty easy and taste great and doesn’t take all day to make!