Homemade Marinara

MUCH, MUCH easier than you think. Now I just need to learn to can stuff and will have this on a whim all the time. So simple, so delicious, and really really easy. Please make this! I know Prego is the solution! I used it up until I made this sauce. Plus, you can say it is homemade!!!!

I actually made some more pasta (whole wheat!) dough the other day but had not made a sauce to go with it yet. Remember, I am a newbie…nothing is always perfect like TV chefs make you think. Was a bit weary about the wheat pasta.. How would the texture be? Would it be mush?  More on that later. Don't you wish sometimes on food network they would cringe when they taste the end result because they messed up? Ok, whatever, I'm the Debbie Downer. But sometimes, your food ain't perfection. It is what it is. This time, it's good.

This marinara is  Giada's and is excellent.  I may have changed a couple of measurements like keeping all the veggies, but it's basically the same. Sweet from the tomatoes, savory, rich, decadent. All you wish for in a great pasta sauce.

I cut Giada's recipe in half (sorta) because it makes a ton and I am just feeding 2!

1/4 c olive oil
1 medium white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic (we love garlic in our house), minced
2 carrots chopped
3 celery stalks (they were very small), chopped
1 32 oz can crushed tomatoes (we used Hunt's brand it was amazing but any crushed will do!)
2 bay leaves (still used 2 because I love the flavor they give to a sauce)

Add olive oil to your pot- any pot will do!!! - and sweat (stir every 3 minutes until they look glossy) your chopped onions down for about 10 minutes. Giada's recipe tells you to add the garlic as same time as the onions, but I find that makes the garlic burn and turn bitter. I added the garlic after the onions turned translucent. When you add the garlic, add the chopped celery and carrot.  Let those cook and stir every couple of minutes for about 10-15 minutes.

Then, add a 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 2 bay leaves, and stir…. THEN WALK AWAY. Really. For an hour. You have to let all those yummy flavors marry. But really, you are done making the sauce! All you have to do is stir every so often…but yes, you are going to make homemade marinara that quick!

I peeked - and stirred. MMMMMM

You don't have to do this next step, but I did just to make it a little smoother. If you like chunky sauce skip this step.  I used an immersion blender for just a couple of whirls to get it a little smoother. 

Here's my yummy pasta recipe- For the whole wheat pasta I cut the all purpose flour in half and used whole wheat in place. You still need the gluten in the AP flour to make the particular recipe I used work. Here's where it went awry! So, when you freeze your pasta, make SURE you flour it liberally…i mean, coat those babies with more flour than you think. Luckily, I defrosted some dough I hadn't cut into spaghetti yet and did it the right way. See the pic below. Those noodles need to be DRESSED in flour. Just do it. You will thank me later. I thought it looked wrong, but it was soooo right.

My cheat boil - a fry daddy basket :-)

When I boil my pasta I used SALTY SALTY water. 

Ooooh weeeeeee. Doesn't this look excellent? Don't say so if not.

Sprinkle some parm on there. 

Enjoy! Let me know what sauces you like with pasta. Mine obviously are those of the unhealthy variety. :-)

Fresh Pasta

Stop what you are doing, and make some fresh pasta.

Here's the deal. You can do this. I can do it, you can do it. It's not hard, although I was scared for years to try this. Do you have flour and eggs? Okay, good. Let's make this. Plus, if you have a pasta roller, great, but if you don't, get some rockstar arms with a rolling pin, you'll need a workout after the alfredo recipe at the end of this post. (No rolling pin or pasta roller? Small canned goods work, but you have to cut the dough very small) Three eggs, one bowl, one fork. Make those eggs one yummy pre scrambled eggs party. Every egg I use, I use 1/2 cup of flour. You add so much more during the kneading so the measurements are not precise. It's not like baking so if you accidentally add more flour, don't worry. If there are too many eggs, don't worry. Just make sure you have 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups flour to start, or double the recipe for however many you are prepping for. I am making this for two people with huge appetites. So I always start with that.

So I have done a few batches of this dough. This particular one, I decided to create a complete mess in my kitchen. If you are feeling like cleaning up a mess, by all means, do this approach. If not, do NOT do what I am doing in the previous photos and instead and do it in a big ol bowl.

 This looks extra pretty and fancy and chef-ish on your counter, but it's a bi#ch to clean up.

 Another obligatory, "I am such a good chef, but I don't have Food Network cleaning up after me" -Wanna Be Giada Making "pah-stah" picture.

 Here we go. Give this a good mix. Some say to slowly incorporate the flour. Do it, it is less messy. But in a bowl, just go at it as long as the eggs are mixed together. Keep that bag of flour next to you, you'll need it. Add some handfuls if it gets sticky. Oh, by the way, are you married, engaged, or love any rings in general? Forgot to say this: take off your rings off before any of this unless you like the look of flour -y rings and another annoying clean up and/or questionable looks from your husband and co-workers of why you are a slob. But if you are already starting this recipe before reading the whole post, that is your own fault.

 Throw some flour down on your workstation. Remember what you heard from your grandmother and ancestors about kneading dough? Do it. Now. For quite a while… (5-7 min) It will magically come second nature to you believe it or not.

 And this is my kitchen on a clean day. You're welcome. (Wine is included)

Knead the dough until your workstation looks less flour-y and more cute/chefy looking. (Don't use my workstation as an example).

 However you decide to roll this dough out, first wrap it in plastic wrap and let it set for about 20 minutes or 2 glasses of wine. Then cut it in sections.

 Then, either use your pasta roll thing or rolling pin or fancy kitchen aid attachment (if you are reading this, why are you reading how to make pasta if you already own a fancy  $175 kitchen aid attachment?) and flour it and roll a thick piece through on highest setting (usually a 10). If you are using a rolling pin, I want your arms. Keep lowering your pasta rolling setting until your liking Or, just keep on rolling and adding flour until you like the thin/thickness.

Have your husband/significant other take makeup-less and candid pictures of you you will later regret asking him to take. Sidenote: Remind my husband to compliment me.

Roll your pasta through your preferred pasta setting or cut with a pizza cutter. Flour a baking sheet with kitchen towel on it to get it ready to boil.

 I cheated and used my fry-daddy insert to drop my pasta in but you can just drop it in boiling SALTY water for 2-5 minutes until it floats.

 In this case, I used Pioneer Woman's alfredo sauce recipe and it was delightful.

 

Let me know how this was for you. If you want to impress your significant other, do this RIGHT NOW.