Welcome to Random Recipe!

After much consideration, the bloggers at HHH have decided to begin a weekly feature! I am very excited to be the inaugural poster of what we have, in fact, dubbed "Random Recipe." Look for this post to show up once a week by a different member of HHH. Our recipes can be of the traditional kind; ie: a recipe for homemade food, or it can detail a recipe of the more handmade sort: an all-purpose, natural cleaning formula, for instance. We hope you will enjoy reading about it as much as we'll enjoy posting!

This past weekend was Valentine's Day, and instead of going out, my husband and I decided to stay in and cook one of our favorite meals: Stuffed Shells Arrabbiata. I thought about posting the entire recipe on here, but it's somewhat involved AND it incorporates two separate recipes, as we use a homemade marinara sauce in it. I thought the Marinara Sauce would be an ideal first posting, because it is ridiculously adaptable and can be a good base for anything from spaghetti to meatball subs to lasagna. So, here in all its wonderful glory, is the first recipe of Random Recipes!

The Infinitely Adaptable Marinara Sauce
(Basic Version)

2 (28-oz) cans crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped or pressed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
A glug or two of wine (this is technically optional but we usually put it on our sauce each time! We use either red or white wine...whatever you have on hand is fine as long as it's something you'd actually enjoy drinking. Try to avoid bottles labeled "cooking wine" because they tend to be super-salty and not anything you'd ever pour in a glass and relax with after a hard day!)

Heat the oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute until tender. Stir in the tomatoes, oregano and sugar; add the glug of wine and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Decrease the heat to medium and continue simmering until the sauce thickens. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

That's the basic version, but really you can add lots of different ingredients to customize it! Here are some ideas:

~Adding fresh basil (roll a few leaves up and slice them across to create a chiffonade to go in the sauce)
~Substituting 1 (28-oz) can of whole or chopped tomatoes to add a chunkier component to the overall texture of the sauce.
~Adding pancetta or bacon (saute it before you get to work on the garlic and onion and add it to the sauce)
~Incorporate mushrooms into the sauce by also sauteeing them with the onions and garlic
~To make it spicy, add red pepper flakes
~Roast red peppers or tomatoes and incorporate them into the sauce in its final stages of simmering.
~Add, along with the oregano or in place of it, thyme or rosemary.

And there are many more variations! As I said, Carl and I added red pepper flakes and pancetta to create a spicy sauce for our stuffed shells. Yum! On a side note, one of my favorite stories from my fabulous HHH friend Nicole is about how her grandmother, whom she grew up with, always made her own homemade tomato sauce. Nicole actually says she didn't realize until a shockingly late age that you could buy tomato sauce jarred in stores! She thought everyone grew their own tomatoes and mixed up their own sauce at home; or at least everyone should. Well, it's the dead of winter and I can't grow my own tomatoes, but canned tomatoes are the next best thing. Nicole and her grandmother were right: there is nothing to the taste of homemade marinara sauce. Also, if you look in grocery stores, many jars are pretty expensive. At my local grocery store, I've even noticed some of the "upscale" sauces being sold for as high as $8.99 or even $9.99 per jar. Ridiculous! This homemade sauce is a fraction of the price and tastes amazing.

Enjoy!