Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

After a long - or at least stressful- day of travel back from LA to San Francisco (driver took us about 15 miles out of the way (each way - so 30 miles total) and got us to the airport 25 minutes before the flight was set to leave - we had to jump in front of the check in line - be patient and not cut in front in the TSA line, Derek went through security with his socks on and proceeded to run to the gate while I put all of our things - including his shoes - through the scanner. We made it, but just barely. All we wanted was to go home, relax and have a bit of wine. And how about spaghetti and homemade sauce for a nice comforting meal.

We've been enjoying the addition of wine into out tomato-based pasta sauce, so tonight we cracked open one that we had received in our Wine Club wine shipment - the lowest price point bottle. Coming in at only $10 is the Black Opal Cabernet/Merlot blend from Australia. Not too complex but not a bad choice - we weren't picky that night.

To make the sauce, Derek sauteed up some leeks (we were out of onions) , garlic, and finely chopped carrot (for sweetness - use instead of sugar...really!) - and cooked until the leeks were soft and translucent. Then he added a big can of the fire roasted tomatoes - hand crushed by Derek himself. He also threw in some tomato paste and red wine at that time. And sadly, since we had no fresh herbs besides cilantro - which would not have been tasty - we had to throw in some dried thyme and then also put in some crushed red pepper flakes.

We put the lid on and let the sauce do its thing for about 30-40 minutes. Meanwhile, we made the pasta (whole wheat spaghetti) and salad (butter lettuce and red leaf lettuce with radishes and a homemade (of course) balsalmic vinaigrette).

Once the cooking time was up, Derek used his handy immersion blender and blended up the sauce until not perfectly smooth, but no visible chunks.

Serve it up on top of spaghetti and you're good to go!


(Check out that steam!)



I put some steamed broccoli on my spaghetti (I love the addition of "crunch" to the soft pasta/sauce combination) - and a simple meal was complete - a good end to a stressful day. Good to be home.