Recipe: A Simple Marinara Sauce

There are few sauces as versatile as a classic Marinara. Eat it with anything, on anything, or just use it as a dip. You can play with the recipe and make it as rich as possible.
Throw in some mushrooms, some bell peppers, different chillis, some corn for texture, play with it how you like. It makes an excellent sauce for pizzas (just add some oregano) so you don't have to get that store-bought bottled crap. Add some Garam masala and Chaat masala and you have some very interesting Indian flavours. Make it with red wine and serve the same bottle with your food. Add some gound meat and mustard to it. Use cheeses within the sauce. I love adding minced Jalapeno peppers and mushrooms to this and serving it with toast in the morning with some grated cheese.
So hence for this post I am going to present a simple basic marinara. This can be the template from which you expand the taste to your liking. GO WILD!!!.

Ingredients:-

1/2 cup Tomato Purée
4 large tomatoes (say, 250 grams)
5 tablespoons cup of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 large onion (finely diced)
1/4 cup of fresh Basil leaves
1/2 tablespoon of dried Thyme.
Salt, black pepper, red chilli to taste.
Lets COOK!!!

Lets get those lovely red tomatoes out and dice them up.

Time for Mis en Place. (Everything in place). Now here I am not using any onions since there were people I was cooking for who didnt like onions. I otherwise recommend you keep them when you make marinara.Look and drool at all those delicious ingredients.

Get a stove on. Put on a pot and heat up the olive oil.

When it just starts to bubble, add your garlic and onions and sauté them for a few minutes until translucent. Once those are done, add your purée and diced tomatos and let them cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add your basil, salt, pepper, chilli and let it simmer for about 10 minutes or it thickens to the consistency you want.

I served it with a yummy Ravioli (Spinach, ricotta cheese and mushrooms) and a side of creamy mashed potatoes. (will put up posts on those soon).

Recipe: Creamy Basil Pesto Sauce

I love Pasta. I love making it, I love eating it. But you cannot have a good pasta without a good sauce. I have decided to try making at least one new sauce every couple of weeks. First is a classic, The Basil Pesto.
Pesto comes from the Genoese word pestâ (from Genoa in Northern Italy) which basically means to crush or to pound. Originally this sauce was made using a mortar and pestle, however you can also make it using a food processor. (Once I get a mortar and pestle, I will give the traditional way a try too).


Ingredients:

2 cups fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 cup of Pine Nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (freshly grated)
1 cup extra virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of thyme. (Optional)
Salt, black pepper to taste. 

Lets COOK!!!.

Lets start with those lovely fresh basil leaves.

 

Wash and clean them, add them to a food processor along with your garlic and pine nuts. Add a little olive oil, just enough to get them minced.

Blend them for a bit and then add in your cheese. I also threw in a little bit of thyme just for taste. (this is optional).

Now you can add your remaining Olive oil and get it to the consistency you want. As you can see, we have gotten a very creamy consistency. If you want it to have a leafier, rougher consistency, cut down on the olive oil (use only 1/2 a cup) and the blending time.

Fettucini is my favourite pasta and it goes beautifully with pesto. So for this cook-off I boiled some as per the instructions on the case.

Toss it together with that yummy creamy pesto, garnish with basil (I ran out of basil so used coriander) , maybe grate some parmesan over and above and serve.

Printable Recipe:-


Ingredients:

2 cups fresh Basil Leaves
1/2 cup of Pine Nuts
1/2 cup Parmesan-Reggiano cheese (freshly grated)
1 cup extra virgin Olive Oil
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon of thyme. (Optional)

Salt, black pepper to taste. 

Steps:

1) Wash and clean the basil leaves and add along with the garlic and pine nuts to a food processor.
2) Add a little olive oil (3-4 tablespoons) and start blending.
3) Once they are decently creamy, add the cheese, thyme, salt and pepper along with a bit more olive oil.
4) Keep blending and slowly adding the olive oil till you get it to the required consistency.
5) The more olive oil you add and the longer you blend it, the creamier will be the final consistency.
6) Toss with some pasta and enjoy!!!