Super Simple Great Pasta Sauce

Super Simple Great Pasta Sauce
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This is Rob’s Little Cheat for making amazing pasta sauce, fast and easy. The trick is instead of using crushed tomatoes, use your favorite flavor store brand bottled sauce for the tomatoes. They cost a little more, but are already loaded with tons of flavor. Some fried, sweated onions, a couple of cloves of garlic, some red wine, add the jar of sauce, cook that down and you’re a master chef.

spaghetti pomodoro - robs little kitchen

Super Simple Great Pasta Sauce

This starts like any pasta sauce with onions and garlic but then instead of plain crushed tomatoes, I use an inexpensive store brand sauce. They come in a variety of flavors, basil, garlic, arrabiata, etc., pick your favorite. They may cost a little more, but you start out with an already flavorful tomato sauce. Here pictured on spaghetti.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine Italian

Equipment

  • 1 med pot

Ingredients
  

  • 1 small onion - diced
  • 2 cloves garlic - minced
  • 1 green pepper - diced (optional)
  • 8 oz mushrooms (your favorite, I use baby portobellos) - chopped. Use your favorite, I use baby portobellos. (optional)
  • ½ cup dry red wine
  • 28 oz can crushed or diced tomatoes OR
  • 1 24 oz your favorite bottled pasta sauce - This is Rob's Little Secret to shorten cook time and enrich your sauce with deeper flavors.
  • ½ cup basil - chiffonade cut
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon agave - to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.

Instructions
 

  • Sauté onions and peppers if using for 4-5 minute until softened.
  • If using mushrooms add them and continue to sauté the water out of them and darken.
  • Add the garlic and cook for another minute until fragrant.
  • Add the wine and cook down by half.
  • Add the tomatoes or bottled tomato sauce and cook down to the thickness you desire about 40 minutes if using canned tomatoes, 20 to 30 minutes if using bottled sauce.

Notes

To chiffonade is to cut thin strips of a flat leafy vegetable or larger leaf herb. It is a cutting technique that you can use with things like lettuces and — very commonly — basil, and it results in sliver-like curled strips that look very elegant when mixed into or strewn over various dishes.
Stack the basil leaves and roll them into a cigar-shape. Finely cross slice them.
Keyword marinara sauce, pasta sauce, pomodoro sauce, tomato sauce
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