Garlic Marinara, Roasted Style

One of my regular food-smells in the world is onions and butter (or oil) cooking on the stove. Something about it will instantly teleport me back to my childhood kitchen. My mom cooking in her apron and my nose hovering two inches above the pan.

My second go-to food related smell in the world is from-scratch pasta sauce simmering. As you know, I rarely buy store bought sauce, because I’d couldn’t bear to miss out on the smell of it bubbling away. Obviously A regular here it because sauces usually have the whole onions sautéing thing going on but add in all those herbs and garlic.

This sauce is all the things Worth keeping wrapped in one. The whole aroma thing was intensified by adding in a whole head of roasted garlic into a wine infused marinara. All that’s needed now is some pasta or mozzarella bites!

For this Roasted Garlic Marinara Set out:

• whole head of garlic
• olive oil
• a large shallot
• italian seasoning
• dry red wine
• San Marzano tomatoes (that have been pureed until smooth)
• tomato sauce
• kosher salt
• black pepper
• sugar
• a pinch or two of chili flakes (optional)

First things first, roast the garlic.

You can always do this in advance if you’d like. I simply peel off the cloves from 1 small head of garlic (peels are still on) and place them in the center of a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Then I drizzle the cloves with a little olive oil, seal the foil so it’s resembles a purse and then I place it in a preheated 400℉ (or 200℃) oven for about 40 minutes. Once the garlic is safe to handle, I’ll peel off that outer skin of each clove and mash all of the garlic with a fork to form a paste.

I do this instead of roasting the whole cove intact, because I feel I waste more when I roast garlic that way.

In a large 12-inch skillet, sauté 1 large, diced shallot in 1 teaspoon olive oil until tender. Add in the roasted garlic paste and 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, stirring to combine. If using, add the red pepper flakes with the italian seasoning. Smells rich!

Then pour in 1/4 cup dry red wine with a (28 ounce) can San Marzano tomatoes that has been pureed, 1 (14.5 ounce) can tomato sauce and 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Stir to combine.

Allow the sauce to simmer for 15 to 25 minutes before serving if using right away. If making the sauce in advance, I only simmer it for 10 minutes because I know I would be simmering it the following day with the spaghetti and meat sauce. Season with 1-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper – or to taste.

Ps. the smell of this roasted garlic marinara is memorable.

Enjoy! And if you give this Roasted Garlic Marinara recipe a try, let me know! Snap a photo and tag me on twitter or instagram!