Spaghetti Sauce

It’s a snow day here in the Seattle area & that calls for homemade Spaghetti Sauce.

I’m thinking about hopping onto a sled later.

Or maybe I’ll just write about food.

Or maybe I’ll open the B&B for snacks & coffee to the people waiting on the side of the freeway for Snoqualmie Pass to open. Or maybe I’ll just write about food.

Yeah, I’ll write about food.

Spaghetti Sauce

Note: You can replace the canned tomatoes with 3 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes. Just preheat the oven to 500°F. Drizzle a sheet pan with olive oil, cut the tomatoes into quarters, and place them on the pan. Sprinkle with salt and roast them for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven, let them cool to room temperature, and blend or food process until they’re the texture you would like them to be.

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 28 ounce can pureed tomatoes
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 6 ounces chicken, beef, or vegetable  broth
• 4.25 ounce can chopped olives
• 1 pint fresh mushrooms, minced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 3 ounces manzanilla green olives, chopped
• 4 dried bay leaves
• Sea salt
• Coarse ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Pour olive oil into a large pan.

Cook the diced onions over medium-high heat until they are translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for a couple more minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, seasonings, brown sugar, and broth. Add olives and mushrooms. Salt & pepper as you like. Stir in bay leaves & butter and simmer on low until the sauce is as thick as you’d like it to be. Want meatballs? Here’s the recipe! How to Make Meatballs

The Pasta

Follow time instructions on the package to cook noodles and remember not to add the pasta until your water is boiling. Be sure to salt your water. Keep things interesting by using different kinds of noodles when you make spaghetti. Penne, linguine or Cellentani are all fun options. If you decide to mix them, be sure to pay close attention to the cooking times. Add the pasta with the longest cooking first then add the noodles with the lesser cooking time as you countdown. After draining the water off the pasta, stir in a bit of olive oil for added flavor and to help prevent your noodles from sticking together.

Serve spaghetti sauce of the perfectly cooked noodles for all to enjoy… except for the poor people sitting on the side of the freeway. In their cars. In the snow. I am a terrible person.

A terrible person who reeks of garlic and is enjoying her fireplace all to herself. Just for now.