Marinara with fresh herbs

I’ve always held that good marinara sauce is a form of art. Beautiful, but not as easy as it looks. 

When making beer, most home brewers know that light beer is the most difficult beer to home-brew. The reason is that the canvass is so light, that any off flavors will shine through. If it isn’t perfect, everyone will know.

While marinara sauce isn’t that difficult, the same principle applies. Good marinara sauce has a delicate flavor. Everything has to be in balance, or it will stick out like a sore thumb. The onions and carrots need to be cooked down to moderate and sweeten them. The fresh herbs need to be added lightly so they nudge the flavor, not take over. The sauce I made last night, hit the perfection mark. All the flavors were balanced, and none stuck out. 

Here’s how I put it together. The arbol peppers from my garden are milder than either cayenne or Thai peppers. I would use only one of those in place of the three arbol, or you can use a dried arbol pepper, which most groceries around here carry. A pinch of red pepper flakes will work too. If you can’t find the fresh herbs, you can use dried, but be cautious. Just a small pinch of each.

1 medium carrot, grated

1 large onion, finely minced

3 Arbol peppers, thinly sliced

1/4 cup of olive oil

1/2 tsp. dried marjoram

Adobo seasoning (or a good seasoned salt)

2 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced

1/2 cup of dry Italian white wine

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

2 sprigs of thyme, snipped

2 sprigs of oregano, snipped

5 basil leaves, snipped

1 sprig of tarragon, snipped

1 tbs. butter

Preparation

Heat a medium saucepan and add the olive oil. Add the finely minced onion, and the grated carrot. You may need to add a spec more olive oil. Add the dried marjoram and a good sprinkle of adobo seasoning, cover the pan and let them sweat down for about ten minutes, stirring often. Now you don’t want to brown the onions, but you do want them to just start to turn golden. The cover will keep the moisture in, which helps prevent burning.

Add the garlic and stir. Let that go for another five minutes or so. Add the white wine, stir and cover. Give that another five minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes, rinse the can with a little wine, and add that as well. Bring that to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cover. Let that simmer gently, while you bring your pasta water to boil. When you put the pasta in the boiling water, add the fresh herbs. My sprigs were small, so error on the side of moderation, especially with the tarragon. Try to get fresh basil for this, because it really blends well. 

Once the herbs are in, stir and simmer for two or three minutes, and then turn off the heat. Let it rest for three or four minutes, and stir the butter in until it is well blended. You are ready to serve.

Serving

I served this delicate marinara over bow tie pasta. I also placed a pile of sausage and peppers on the plate, and dusted both with grated Parmesan cheese. Set out a bowl of olives, some wilted cucumbers and onions, and a bowl of cherries. I opened a bottle of Hungarian red wine, that I was going to serve over the weekend, but didn't. I was surprised that it went real well with this meal.