Spaghetti with home made Marinara Sauce

Spaghetti with home made Marinara Sauce (and meatless meatballs from Trader Joe's!!)

I am not a great fan of Italian cooking but spaghetti with marinara sauce is a delectable, simple meal in itself. I always used to buy store marinara sauces, ‘Ragu’ essentially. Not until did I make my own sauce, did I realize how crappy and preservative-laden store bought ones are! Trust me!

I have used canned diced tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. Simply because our grocery stores here don’t carry the juicy tomatoes, all they have is the inferior, dead ones.

This rosemary infused sauce is very flavorful and caters to your inner senses. I usually make a big batch that lasts well over a week.

Ingredients:

-Whole wheat spaghetti, 1 lb

-16 oz cans diced tomatoes- 2

-Rosemary sprigs- 3-5.

-Garlic-about 8 cloves, minced

-Olive oil- 2 tbsp

-Water- 8 cups or more as needed

-Salt, as needed

1. Boil the water and salt it generously (about a handful). Once boiling, add the spaghetti and let it cook for about 8 min, al dente. Drain and set it aside.
2. Alternatively, cook the sauce first and spaghetti last so it stays fresh
3. Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add the rosemary; either the whole sprig (You may take out the sprig in the end) or the leaves alone (simply leave the leaves in the sauce). Let it cook for 2 min. Adding rosemary directly to hot oil brings out the intensity.
4. Now add minced garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
5. Add the diced tomatoes with their water and salt. Sit and let it cook on low-med for about 30-45min.
6. Serve over a bed of spaghetti.

Variation:
You may add diced onion to the sauce (along with rosemary in hot oil) and sweat it out for 3-5 min.
Try adding thyme (fresh or dried) to the sauce. but I find rosemary is the best with marinara sauce.