Marinara sauce is like the God Father of all Sauces!

Seriously you can do a lot with one big batch of marinara sauce and never once feel like you are eating the same thing every day!

Its easy to make and it will go along way!
You can make a massive batch and freeze it or Gift it!
I’ve made homemade stuff before and bought some things to go with it and wrapped it all up in a gift basket – its a HUGE win!
Didn’t cost you much… but its so thoughtful and DELICIOUS!

What you need:

3 large cloves of Garlic finely chopped
¾ cup onion finely chopped
(red, white, sweet – whatever you feel like – I normally use Red as they are my favourite!)
¾ cup green pepper finely chopped
1 tbs Honey (I use Honey instead of sugar!!!)
2 fat cans of tomato puree
1 fat can of diced tomatoes
1 small can of Tomato paste
¼ tsp Garlic powder
¼ tsp onion powder
½ tbs dried basil
½ tsp Thyme
½ tsp oregano
½ tbs Parsley
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Salt & pepper to Taste
crock-pot

What to do:

Toss your garlic, onion, green pepper into the bottom of the crock-pot first
Then add your honey and canned tomatoes
Then add your spices and Parmesan
Turn the crock pot on high – do NOT stir!!
Let it cook on high for 1 hour
Turn your crock-pot down to low, stir and leave over night to cook.
(It’s in the crock-pot for 10-11 hours total)

In the morning you will have this beautifully flavoured sauce!

Marinara Tips:

You can cook this faster – leave your crock-pot on high for 4-5 hours – I will say though….. the longer it sits in that crock-pot and infuses together the better it is!!
Add some Wine!!! It’s very Italian of you to add a little red wine to your marinara sauce. Go for it! I would add about ½ cup to a cup of a good red wine!
***IF YOU WON’T DRINK IT… DON’T COOK WITH IT!!!
Only ever cook with wines you would want to drink!
Freeze it in freezer bags (Yes i said bags…it will lay flat save you space!!!)

Obviously this sauce is delicious as is with spaghetti (or any pasta really) and grated cheese or with some ground beef or sausage… but…. Here are some things you can make with this sauce OTHER than use it for Pasta!
(And yes … I named them silly :P… its gotta be fun!!!)

The sloppiest of Sloppy Joes

Add Ground beef or sausage or ground turkey/chicken and add a Smokey BBQ sauce heat it up in a pan and top it on a thick bun – YUM!

The Italian Breakfast

In a deep pan toss in your sauce and let it heat up on low, then build a couple of holes and drop in some eggs – let the eggs cook up right in the sauce. Make some hash browns and when your eggs are cooked through… but the eggs & sauce on the hash browns and top with some cheese…. IT’S SOooOO GOOD!!!

Do you accept this rosé?

Mix your Marinara with a béchamel sauce and make a rosé sauce! It’s great for baked pasta’s like Tortellini or to use a layer in your Lasagna!!

Did someone say Pizza?

Take your sauce and blend it down a bit more then it is so it’s very smooth – toss it in a jar and there you have Pizza sauce.

Because it’s a Spice-eh Meat-a-ball!

Toss in some hot sauce and make some chorizo sausage meatballs. Make a little meatball sub – toast your bun with some garlic butter and Provolone cheese and then top it with some sautéed green peppers and onions!

I feel like Chicken tonight!

Shake n’ bake some chicken or make your own breading and do up Chicken Parmesan with this sauce (it’s seriously so good) – on a bun or on its own with a nice salad side – Ah YA!

When I dip, you dip, we dip ……(haha this one! classic old school jam!)

Blend it up and use it for a dipping sauce for mozza sticks or Pizza bits or Garlic bread!!

Fill me up Scotty!

Use the sauce as a base for doing stuffed peppers or Zucchini boats – mix your meat or your rice and veggies and cheese with this sauce as a binder…. It’s delicious!

Mussels are such a Turn on!… haha

Add ½ cup of sauce and 1 cup delicious white wine to a pot – cook it down – you still want it to be loose so if it thickens up add a little water– buy some mussels and cook them with some smashed garlic cloves in water – remove the mussels and pour your sauce over the mussels – buy a baguette and tear it up to soak up the juicy marinara wine sauce! Honestly this is an easy date night option to do and it just looks like you put in a lot of effort and its classy! 😉

Soup, Soup-a-dup, soup-a-dup, supa-dupa-dupa-dup!

Mini meatball and/or lasagna soup! ummm yah! all you do is cook up some meatballs or lasagna noodles, get yourself some veggies(or not) – take your sauce and some chicken broth throw it all back into the crock pot on high for 2 hours – enjoy with some cheese on top!!