Marinara Sauce

I love making my own spaghetti sauces. I tend to find the jarred sauces to salty and tomato pasty. Plus I love controlling the ingredients I put in my food and then I get to add whatever I feel like on that particular day. Control freak much? Yup I will admit it. But if you have your own favorite jarred sauce by all means save yourself the time when your in a rush, no judgement here!
I make my sauce in a 5 quart sauce pan I got for my birthday (Thanks Dad!).

Start by chopping and sautéing some onion and mushrooms

Then add an entire bag of spinach and give it a minute wilt.

Add in your spices: sugar, pepper, basil, oregano, garlic (or garlic powder), balsamic vinegar. Then add Tomatoes, chicken stock, and 2 shredded chicken breasts if using and simmer away.

Again you can feel free to leave out any ingredients you don't like or add in ingredients you like. I often make it with bell peppers and no spinach, using ground turkey instead of chicken. Go crazy and let me know your favorite way to make it!

Recipe

Marinara Sauce

1-tbls olive oil

1 large onion diced

1 package (8oz) criminal (baby portabella) mushrooms sliced

1-10oz package spinach

1 tbls balsamic vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper (or 1/4 if you are sensitive to spice)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp garlic powder (if you have fresh garlic you can substitute 2 cloves minced I just didn't have it on hand when I made this particular batch)

1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1-15 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock

2 chicken breasts boiled and shredded

1. Add olive oil to large sauce pan (you can use a pot if you don't own a sauce pan)

2. Add onion and Sauté for a few minutes

3. Add mushrooms and continue to sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated (you want to really cook the moisture out)

4. Add spinach and cook just until it wilts down

5. Add in balsamic vinegar, sugar and all the spices and continue to sauté for a couple minutes, you want the vinegar to caramelize a little on the vegetables

6. Add in tomatoes and chicken stock and chicken if using

7. Let is simmer. You can use it right away if your pressed for time but if you have the time to let it simmer on low for at least 30 minutes it will just get better.

8. Enjoy!