Pasta and Puppies

So, I got fancy the other night and decided to make my own marinara sauce for me and Adam's spaghetti dinner. I even jazzed it up a bit more and added ground beef to it because we all know how Adam feels about having meat in his meals. It was super easy and I definitely recommend making your own sauce. It tastes WAY better than jarred sauce. And you can freeze it for up to three months! Here is Adam's presentation. He believes he is a master of food style: I just nod my head and take the pictures. ;)

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 28 oz. can San Marzano crushed tomatoes (I like these best, you can use brands you like)
1 dried bay leaf
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
S&P

Recipe:

In a large pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions, garlic and some S&P and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sugar, bay leaf and a bit more S&P and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. If your sauce starts to thicken and it loses liquid, just gradually add 1/2 cup of water to the sauce over the course of the hour. Add the browned ground beef into the sauce and stir it occasionally for about 15 more minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste.

We ate our sauce with spaghetti pasta and added some chopped fresh basil and shredded Parmesan cheese on top! Here's a photo of Adam's artistic plating.. pretty good, if I say so myself. :)

And just for your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of my parents' little baby Cooper. He had some blisters on his feet from the hot pavement so he had to get them bandaged up. Ha!

Adorbs! OK. Now that I have finally finished this post from about a month ago.. look out for the next one that will basically give you the quick and dirty of my July. 
I know, I know.. I have sucked at blogging. But, I promise things will pick up again now that I am settled in my new job and have a steady schedule going.


Have a great week!