sunday's spiked marinara

do you have more cans of diced tomatoes than you know what to do with? how about some leftover wine from dinner the other night? if so then get ready to make some extra room in your pantry and an excuse to go to the liquor store because tonight we're having some spiked marinara. here's what you'll need:

• 2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic - about 2 small cloves
• 1.25 cups of finely diced sweet onion - 1 medium sized onion should yield this much.
• 2 cups of diced tomatoes - canned in sauce works just fine. How do I know? it's what i used
• 1 6 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup of dry white wine - I used a Alsace Riesling
• 1/8 tsp salt
• Few grinds of black pepper
• 3/4 tsp and 1/2 tsp of dried parsley
• 3/4 tsp dried basil

Heat the 2 tsp of olive oil with the red pepper flakes and minced garlic in a 3 to 4 qt sauce pan over medium-low heat to allow the oil to become infused with both of these flavors, about 5 minutes. Toss the diced onion with 3/4 tsp of dried parsley and 1/4 tsp of dried basil. Once your oil has steeped, turn the heat up to medium and add the onion. Allow the onion to soften and once it has a clearer color to it, add the diced tomatoes and white wine. If using canned, add the white wine to the can to pick up whatever remnants are left and pour into the pot.Once the summer comes, I'd like to try roasting some fresh tomatoes instead but since it is winter, i'll have to leave that for a future experiment.

Proceed to add the can of sauce along with the remaining seasonings. Bring to a boil, then turn your heat down back to a medium-low flame and allow to simmer for about 25-30 minutes. I've never added white wine to my marinara sauce and I have to say, it added a nice dry heat to it. The addition really was quite satisfying. We served this atop spaghetti fixed according to package directions with a small salad of field greens on the side and the leftover rosemary, olive oil batard. To add some zing to the bread, feel free to just rub it with a clove of garlic and top it off with your favorite kind of mozzarella or even some parmigiana reggiano.