Busy Night Marinara

Yesterday was a busy day!  We headed out around 9 AM to drive to the Valley to visit some farms for Open Farm Day.  On the way down, we noticed that the Hants County Exhibition was on, and one of the things on my Mommy to-do list this summer was to take the little one on her first Merry Go Round ride, so we stopped there for some fun on the way home.  Needless to say, when we got home around 4 PM, we were all pooped.

I was in the kitchen putting away all of the farm fresh goodies from our adventure and the big bag of fresh basil from Taproot Farms was singing out to me (don't ask me what it was singing, it was in Italian).  Since spaghetti (whole wheat even) is one of the few meals our daughter will happily eat, it was time to make us some sauce.  What I ended up with was a very simple yet flavourful marinara sauce, a bit spicy but sweetened up a bit with just a touch of honey, another of the day's farm purchases.

My Busy Night Marinara

Serves 4 (ish)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 small onion, diced small

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 28oz can good quality whole, peeled tomatoes

1 tsp honey

S&P to taste

1/2 cup (unpacked) chopped fresh basil (a good sized handful)

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for 2-3 minutes.  Add the garlic and the red pepper flakes and continue cooking for another minute or two.  By hand, or with a potato masher (I agree with Lidia B. that you will get the best texture doing it by hand... and it's fun), mash the can of tomatoes and add it to the skillet, juice and all.  Add the honey and S&P, stir and let simmer for 30 minutes, or until whenever your pasta is ready.  About 5 minutes before you are going to plate it up, add the basil to the sauce and stir.  

Pass the Parm and dinner is served!