In cooking, as in life, sometimes only the good stuff will do. Now don’t get me wrong, I love a bargain. I am a dedicated consignment shopper – both for clothes and kitchen ware. (Want to see the like new Le Creuset dutch oven I found for $35.00 last year?) And, God knows, I love a good sale.
I also have mad grocery shopping skills, if I do say so myself. Because I cook for fabulous clients every week for KilKenney@Home, I’ve gotten good at sniffing out top quality ingredients at the best price in town. I’m a fan of private label when the quality is high, and a regular at the many top notch speciality and ethnic markets here in the twin cities.
Once in a while, however, only full price, brand name ingredients will do. This Marvelous Marinara recipe is a great example. It calls for the San Marzano tomatoes (I like Cento – best price at Target), real butter (With a name like KilKenney, it’s got to be Kerrygold! – best price at Costco and the Aldi Pure Irish butter is a good option as well) and a pinch of Kosher salt (Diamond Crystal is my favorite brand – available at Penzey’s)
Any dish that tastes this good using just three ingredients is a candidate for the good stuff. The recipe is adapted from the great Marcella Hazan’s version and I know it will be a wonderful addition to your repertoire. I encourage you to give this easy, incredibly delicious recipe a try this week. You can thank me later!
In other KilKenney Kitchen news I invite you to check back mid-March for my spring lineup of cooking classes. We’ll work together to create fabulous recipes (always gluten free) and have a ball doing it. I hope you’ll join me. If you don’t see a class topic you like, just email me – I’m happy to put together a class for you and your favorite people.
Marvelous Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can Whole Peeled Tomatoes Ideally San Marzano
- 1 large Onion
- 5 tbsp Butter Go for the good stuff – Kerrygold or local
- 1 pinch kosher salt
Instructions
- Grab your best ingredients for this one – I love Cento tomatoes & Kerrygold butter
- Peel and half the onion
- Cut the butter into 1" pieces
- Place the tomatoes, onion halves, butter & salt in a heavy saucepan
- Bring to a slow boil
- Reduce the heat and simmer, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon occasionally
- Remove the onion and set aside – I love to eat the onions with this pasta!
- Give the sauce one last stir and taste – add salt as needed
- Serve on your favorite pasta with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese
