Tasty Bites: Mighty Marinara

By Candy, RN (Steele the Day)

When my kids were growing up, “homemade spaghetti sauce” was a jar of purchased spaghetti sauce, a can of mushrooms (yes, the rubber ones), and a pound of browned ground beef. Wow, has my cooking changed! For a dozen years I’ve made marinara sauce from scratch, and it’s not difficult at all. It does take time, but if you cook ahead, you can have some on hand in the freezer for a quick meal.

Tomatoes are the star ingredient. If you have an abundance of fresh ones, they make the sauce even better. It’s a great way to use up the harvest that brings you three dozen tomatoes on the same day. Typically I’ll buy several cans at a time when they’re on sale, or buy a big quantity when I go to the bulk stores. It takes about the same amount of time to make four servings as it does forty, and it freezes well.

Canned tomatoes are very low in saturated fat and cholesterol. They are also a good source of thiamin, niacin, calcium and magnesium, and a very good source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin B6, iron, potassium, copper and manganese. They can be high in sodium, but low sodium varieties are available. Tomatoes are also a great source of lycopene which is a powerful phytochemical thought to prevent cancer.

Mighty Marinara

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

15 ounce can diced tomatoes

6 oz tomato paste

¼ cup white wine (optional)

1 tablespoon sugar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 ½ teaspoons dried basil leaves

1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 tablespoon dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Sweat the garlic and onion in olive oil until soft. Do not allow to brown. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, wine, sugar and herbs. Salt to taste. Allow to simmer for at least an hour. Sauce will be thick. If a thinner sauce is desired, add water during cooking.

For spaghetti sauce, brown 1 lb ground beef with onion and garlic, then add the remaining ingredients. Add 8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms and simmer. Serve over whole grain pasta and top with shredded parmigiano reggiano cheese.

Candy Steele is a registered nurse who has worked with cardiac patients for over thirty years. “Functional foods” have become her passion, and she enjoys sharing her love of cooking, a random life and a faithful Jesus with her friends at Steele (the Day). She is blessed with three grown children, a new daughter-in-law, and a kind and patient husband who only knows how to fix popcorn (but she’s OK with that).