Feb 21, 2012

Marinara sauce

OK, let me confess right up front – I eat much more pasta than this blog lets on. As a matter of fact, a bowl of pasta with marinara sauce is one of my favorite things in the world, and I eat it at least once a week (with whole wheat pasta, of course!)

So I’m not sure why it took me so long to post my marinara sauce recipe. It’s truly one of my standards.

It’s unbelievable how many people have never made their own marinara sauce. It’s so easy, and so good … what are they waiting for?! This recipe is a great place to start, and lends itself to lots of variations. Sometimes I add a whole bunch of sliced mushrooms. Other times I load it up with fresh herbs like rosemary, thyme and parsley, or add pickled hot cherry peppers for a fra diavolo sauce.

As every recipe seems to say, the quality of your sauce will depend in large part on the quality of your tomatoes. While San Marzanos make amazing marinara sauce, I’ve moved away from canned tomatoes out of concern about BPA, and am using imported Italian Pomi tomatoes in tetra-packs instead. And they are really good (carbon footprint notwithstanding). For the same reason, I also like jarred tomato paste from Bionaturae. It’s a bit thinner than regular tomato paste, so if you use the canned variety you can use less, as noted in the recipe.

This sauce is especially good in my soon-to-be-famous cashew-tofu lasagna, which I’ll post soon.

Marinara Sauce

2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 small carrot, grated
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped (optional)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
6-ounce jar Bionaturae tomato paste (or 3 tablespoons canned tomato paste)
1 cup Pomi strained tomatoes (or canned tomato sauce)
2 26-ounce packages Pomi chopped tomatoes (or 2 28-ounce cans whole San Marzano tomatoes crushed thoroughly by hand)
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh basil

Heat the olive oil over low heat in a large Dutch oven. Add the garlic, carrot, onion (if using) and crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes (the garlic should not brown.)

Add the tomato paste, raise the heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add fresh basil. Taste and add salt if necessary. Remove bay leaf and serve.

Serves 6


 

Dear Valentine,

Since Valentine’s Day falls in American Heart Month, I thought dark chocolate bark was a particularly fitting gift for you.

Dark chocolate is full of flavonoids and antioxidants, have cardiovascular benefits (and let’s face it, your cholesterol could be a little lower.) To amp up the heart health factor even more, I threw some toasted almonds and dried blueberries one top – both can help in the cholesterol department.

For the finishing touch, I sprinkled on some fresh orange zest. Coarse gray or pink sea salt would have also been a delicious choice, albeit not as heart healthy.

As far as homemade Valentine’s Day gifts go, I know chocolate bark might seem like cheating – after all, I just melted some chocolate and threw some stuff on top. But I think you’ll be floored by the combination of chocolate, nuts, dried fruit and fresh orange zest. The whole is so much more than the sum of its parts. Come to think of it, chocolate bark is a lot like marriage.

XXOO,
Cathy

Dark Chocolate Bark with Toasted Almonds, Blueberries and Orange Zest

12 ounces 70-72% dark chocolate (check to make sure the dark chocolate is vegan; most is)
½ cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1/3 cup dried blueberries (wild blueberries if you can find them)
Grated zest of 1 organic orange

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place two thirds of the chocolate in a glass bowl. Microwave in 30-second spurts until the chocolate is just about melted. Add the remaining chocolate and repeat until the last pieces are nearly melted. Stir with a silicone spatula to finish the melting process. (If you don’t have a microwave, you can melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler.)

Pour the chocolate onto the parchment paper, and spread with the spatula to create a rectangle of about 12 x 8 inches. Sprinkle on the toppings. Refrigerate until hard, then break into pieces and store in an airtight container.

First, I have to thank Jenné from Sweet Potato Soul. Her wonderful Quinoa Cauliflower Cakes were the inspiration for this version.

The idea of using carrots and cauliflower in quinoa cakes is brilliant, from both a taste and nutritional perspective. I chose to cook the vegetables a lot more than the recipe called for – although next time I’ll go back and try the original method to compare. I also added my own touches of roasted garlic and lemon zest, and added an egg to help ensure that the cakes held together (thereby un-veganizing the recipe – sorry, Jenné!)

Quinoa cakes have a chameleon-like quality, because they’re completely different depending on what type of sauce or condiment you serve them with. I had them with my friend Catie’s Romesco sauce made from roasted red peppers, garlic and almonds, and loved it. But they’d also be great with chimichurri, a yogurt dill sauce or just honey mustard, as in the original recipe. The key is to choose a strongly-flavored sauce, as the cakes are somewhat of a blank canvas (and I mean that in the nicest possible way.)

Be sure to have a green salad on the side, because tart, vinegary greens really provide a nice contrast.

This recipe is for Love  Your Heart, a celebration of heart-healthy cooking hosted by Cara’s Cravings, Prevention RD, Healthy Food for Living and Super Healthy Kids!

Quinoa Cauliflower Cakes
Adapted from Sweet Potato Soul

1½ cups quinoa
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into small florets
1 cup chopped carrots
¾ cup diced red onions
1 head garlic, roasted, cloves squeezed out
1 large egg
2 tablespoons cornmeal, preferably coarse-ground
1 teaspoon salt
black pepper, to taste
½ cup chopped parsley
Zest of one lemon

Place the quinoa in a saucepan with 2 ¼ cups cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 12-13 minutes.

Heat the 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium hat in a large skillet. Add the cauliflower, carrots and onions, and ¼ cup water. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Uncover and cook, stirring, for five minutes.

In a food processor, puree the cauliflower, carrots, roasted garlic, egg, cornmeal, salt and pepper until mostly smooth. Mix with the cooked quinoa, parsley and lemon zest. Form into patties and place on a plate in the refrigerator for one hour or up to 12 hours.

Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-high in a large skillet. Fry the patties for several minutes on each side, until golden. Add more oil to the skillet as needed for additional batches.
Serves 6-8