Recipe: Easy Red Sauce

As much as I would love to claim to be SuperMom, I'm definitely not. I am lucky if I find the motivation and time to cook us a "real" dinner twice a week at this point (and that's really stretching it). Hubs has stepped up to the plate (haha. punny.) and been cooking/grilling our dinners since Billy arrived.

That said, I do take pride in the dinners I create and my goal is to increase my cooking back up to the previous 4-5 nights per week. I want to start meal planning again and baking regularly...with Billy it just takes much more strategic planning than it used to.

Here is a recipe I love to pull out of my hat when I want a really hearty, delicious meal without a lot of prep work for us: Easy Red Sauce.

Easy Red Sauce
1 lb hot italian sausage
2 T fresh basil, chopped
1 T fresh oregano, chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced 
1 jar of your favorite red sauce
2 fresh tomatoes, diced 
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan cheese

Hubs loves meaty sauce and I do not, so our compromise is I make sauce with the sausages still cased. That way he gets his meat and I can easily avoid it. Start by browning the sausages in a big cast iron pot with some olive oil.

The rest is very "set it and forget it"!

Chop your garlic & fresh herbs:

This is where the easy part kicks in....turn the heat way down so you don't have a pot of sauce scalding and boiling back at you, and dump a jar of your favorite marinara in. It may seem like cheating, but I feel like doctoring it up like this makes it just as much "mine" as anything...right?!

Stir the sauce around and add garlic, herbs, fresh tomatoes and parmesan cheese. If you like a little kick, this is where you would add chili flakes as well.

Bring to a simmer and let sit 2-4 hours on low. Sauce will reduce and thicken and those flavors will just marry and have a big party together.

Serve over your favorite pasta & enjoy!

What are your favorite easy weeknight dinners?