Mushroom-Rosemary Marinara

For the longest time, I was loyal to one spaghetti sauce recipe: the one my mom always made, which makes enough sauce (with meatballs) for a party or a freezer full of family meals. But my family isn’t always in the mood for meatballs, so I started branching out. You can add cooked loose Italian sausage to this sauce if you like, or serve it over Chicken Parmesan, but it’s also delicious on its own, as shown here. Start boiling the water for pasta as soon as you have all your ingredients prepared.

Makes 8 servings

2 Tbl butter
1 Tbl olive oil
12 oz. onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (I like Baby Bella for this but you can use whatever’s on hand)
2/3 cup red wine
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

In a large sauté pan, melt butter and add onion, cooking until soft and translucent. Add olive oil, garlic and mushrooms and stir occasionally over medium heat until mushrooms are browned and cooked through.

Slowly pour in wine, and stir well, scraping any browned bits from the bottom. Bring to a boil and simmer about 3 minutes until liquid reduces.

Stir in remaining ingredients gently. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 minutes.

Serve over pasta with Parmesan and extra crushed red pepper if you like it hot!