Mamas Marinara Food

MY MOTHER'S MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, the garlic, red pepper flakes, and sugar and season with salt, to taste. Stir in the carrots and reseason with salt. Cook for about 2 minutes, and then add canned tomatoes. Use a wooden spoon to break up some of the whole tomatoes and cook over medium heat, stirring from time to time, about 20 minutes. If at any point the veggies or the sauce is getting dry, add some water. Continue cooking another 10 minutes, and then taste for seasoning. The tomatoes should be fairly broken down and the flavors coming together. Cook an additional 10 minutes. The sauce cooks about as long as it takes to make the meatballs from start to finish, about 45 minutes. Stir in the basil leaves and season with Parmesan.

MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and cook on high heat, scraping up all the brown bits in the pan, until almost all the liquid evaporates, about 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pepper. Cover, and simmer on the lowest heat for 15 minutes.

MAMA'S MARINARA

Steps:

• Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a sauce pot over a medium-low flame, about 10 minutes or until garlic is tender and onions translucent, not brown (this is called"sweating" because it will draw out a lot of moisture and flavor).
• Add the chili flakes to taste.
• Add all the tomato products.
• Pour the chicken stock into one of the 28-oz cans.
• Fill it the rest of the way with water and add that and the sugar to the pot.
• Stir and bring to a simmer.
• Taste and season with salt and cover.
• Simmer the sauce for about 1 hour (the sauce should be fairly thin, but not watery and very smooth).
• Uncover and simmer for 3 minutes if it is too thin for your taste; add a little water if it seems thick.

MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on medium-low heat.
• Add garlic and saute gently for about 2-3 minutes.
• Combine tomato paste and water in the saucepan; blend in tomatoes.
• Add fresh parsley.
• Heat over high heat until sauce begins to boil.
• Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes.
• Add salt and/or pepper, to taste.
• Serve over hot, cooked pasta.
• Or try as a dipping sauce for breadsticks, pizza crust, fried cheese sticks or vegetables.

MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a small saucepan on medium-low heat.
• Add garlic and sauté gently for about 2 minutes.
• Add the crushed tomatoes.
• Stir gently and add red wine, and herbs.
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Simmer for another 10 minutes and serve.

MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE AND MEATBALLS

Steps:

• MAMA'S MARINARA SAUCE.
• Cook the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a sauce pot over a medium-low flame, about 10 minutes or until garlic is tender and onions translucent, not brown (this is called "sweating" because it will draw out a lot of moisture and flavor).
• Add all the tomato products. Pour the chicken stock into one of the 28-ounce cans. Fill it the rest of the way with water and add that and the sugar to the pot. Stir and bring to a simmer. Taste and season with red pepper flakes and salt, and cover. Simmer the sauce for about 1 hour. The sauce should be fairly thin but not watery and very smooth. Uncover and simmer for 3 minutes. If it is too thin for your taste, add a little water if it seems thick.
• MAMA'S MEATBALLS.
• Place the chicken stock, onion, garlic, and parsley in a food processor and purée.
• In a large bowl, combine the puréed stock mix, meat, bread crumbs, eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, red pepper flakes, and salt. Combine with both hands until the mixture is distributed evenly. Do not overmix.
• Put a little olive oil on your hands and form the mixture into balls a little larger than golf balls. They should be about ¼ cup each, though if you prefer bigger or smaller, it will only affect the browning time.
• Pour about ½ inch of olive oil into a straight-sided, 10-inch-wide sauté pan and heat over a medium-high flame. Add the meatballs to the pan (working in batches, if necessary) and brown the meatballs well on all sides. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
• While the meatballs are browning, heat the marinara sauce in a stockpot over medium heat. Lift the meatballs out of the sauté pan with a slotted spoon and put them in the marinara sauce. Stir gently. Simmer for one hour.
• Serve with a little extra Parmigiano-Reggiano sprinkled on top.

MAMA'S MARINARA

Steps:

• Place onion, celery and carrot in a food processor and mince fine. You can also minceor grate by hand if you do not have one.
• Heat heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat (ceramic coated dutch ovens work great). Lightly coat bottom of pan with oil. Add above veg mixture, season with salt and pepper. Cook until nicely browned about 15 minutes, stirring often so as not to burn it. Vegetables should be very soft and brown, almost like a paste. Add more oil as needed.
• Add garlic and cook 3-5 more minutes, stirring often so as not to burn garlic.
• Raise heat to med-high to deglaze* pan with red wine. Stir until most of the wine has evaporated and cooked away. (*Just as soon as temp rises to med high, add red wine. It will sizzle and cook down. Stir to loosen up any bits stuck to pan.).
• Add whole tomatoes with their juice. Add bay leaves. Cook til bubbly then lower heat to a simmer, stirring occasionally and simmer uncovered for 1 to 1 1/2 hours to desired consistency. The longer it simmers, the thicker it gets. Crush with a potato masher as it cooks (my preference for a nice chunky marinara) or use an immersion/stick blender for a smoother sauce.
• Stir in fresh herbs at the end of cooking. Season to taste with salt and pepper if needed. I actually season throughout the recipe with each new addition.
• *If fresh not available, use any blend of dried italian style herbs but only a fraction of the amount, to taste and add during the last half hour of cooking.