Never buy spaghetti sauce again. Promise?

I'm no gourmet. BUT. I do cook, and I've learned a few tricks here and there along the way.

When I first started cooking for myself, I often bought Prego. It was uber convenient. Cooking on the stove top was my way of making it "extra fancy" (as opposed to heating it in the microwave). This was during college. Obviously.

After I got married, I stopped using Prego. Mainly because I realized it contained corn syrup. Uh!? So I switched to the cheapest marinara sauce available at Trader Joe's. It came in a little glass jar, I think it's called "Nonna's Recipe." It was just a matter of time before I realized that the ingredients listed on the label were all available in my very own kitchen. Yowza! How 'bout that?

And so... I'm going to show you how to do it. Seriously. It's quick. It's easy. I won't lie-- it's not as easy breezy as opening a jar of Prego. But if you make it often enough (and if you're Orthodox and heading into the Advent fast, you will), then it becomes second nature and super easy peasy.

Friday is good day to make spaghetti. Mainly because it's a chance to use whatever veggies are leftover in the fridge for spaghetti sauce. This week, it was just mushrooms for me. But fresh peppers, tomatoes, chopped zucchini or carrots; these are all great options.

1. Saute your vegetables. Here you see my mushrooms sizzling in some oil (oil can be omitted and you can skip the oil/saute stage).
2. Oh. Get your water boiling, while you're at it. :) 3. In a food processor, combine a 28 oz. can of tomatoes (diced or whole), garlic (as many cloves as you like), and a 1/4 c. of tomato paste. Process until the garlic looks minced.

(tomato paste)

Atta kid.

4. Add the tomato mix to the sauteed goodies on your stovetop. Top with herbs and spices of your choice. I used onion powder (since I can't stand real onions, but I don't mind the flavor), dried basil, dried oregano and ground pepper. Fresh herbs, a splash of red wine, a dash or two of hot sauce or (if you like it sweet) a bit of brown sugar are also other tasty additions.

5. Stir it up (cue reggae music) over medium heat.

6. Once the noodles are done, drain and add to the tomato sauce skillet. Tonight I was agast to discover that my pasta stash was quite low. This is a first. EVER. Somewhere in Genoa a grave is rumbling. I've been using primarily brown rice noodles lately, but I only had about 1/4 a package left. So I added some forgotten capellini and fetuccini remnants (now I need to go stock up on pasta again). HENCE, the pasta mishmash.

7. Once the noodles are well coated with the sauce, serve it warm to your family.

He likes it!

Now. You don't need to follow my suggestions precisely. But I hope I've shown you how simple homemade spaghetti sauce can be. All you really need is a little food processor to make the best marinara sauce ever. So, never buy spaghetti sauce again. Okay? Okay? Promise?

This makes a very good pizza sauce, when slightly altered. Use a 15 oz. can of tomatoes instead of a 28 oz. Use a small can of tomato paste (or, if you don't want it as "tangy", use just half). Add plenty of garlic and spices. Blend it all together, and you're good to go!