Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Spaghetti Marinara with Vegetarian Meatballs


I Heart Cooking Clubs is saying farewell to cooking celebrity chef Giada de Laurentiis recipes and moving on to Jamie Oliver recipes. The theme of the week is Arrivederci Giada, and I finally tried Giada's Marinara Sauce, a recipe I've had bookmarked ever since we started cooking with Giada.


Marinara Sauce
recipe from Giada de Laurentiis my changes in italics

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 small onions, finely chopped --
I left out the onions and added 1 tsp onion powder
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped --
I used roasted garlic, four cloves
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes --
I used two 28 ounce cans and one half 14.5 ounce can
2 dried bay leaves


In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.

Add the tomatoes (I was out of San Marzanos -- which I have to order online since they are not available locally and happened to buy Dei Fratelli brand tomatoes at local mega grocery Meijer -- they were pretty good) and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour.

Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)


I made some vegetarian meatballs (recipe here) to go with the marinara, my kids love vegetarian meatballs and it is a fun dinner for us to make together. This time I switched out the usual pecans in the recipe for cashews and it was a nice change of pace.

Giada's marinara did not disappoint, it was a light, mild marinara sauce -- and went great with the vegetarian meatballs :)

I'm sending this post on to Claire of Chez Cayenne who is hosting Presto Pasta Nights #206 -- thank you, Claire!

7 comments:

Claire said...

Sometimes there's nothing better than the classic spaghetti and meatballs. I love the vegetarian version you made! Thanks for sending this in to Presto Pasta Nights.

Yrene MWCAdventure said...

Spaghetti with(vegetarian) meatballs, yumm!!
glad to hear the Marinara was good, like to try this anytime soon.

NKP said...

I loved that sauce too - and now I am so hungry for spaghetti!!

Hessed Joy said...

Looks delicious! I have to try it for myself! :)

Deb in Hawaii said...

The sauce looks divine--the meatballs even better. Great pick! Glad you could join in the last week of Giada--hope you can join in with Jamie. ;-)

natalia said...

Ciao ! What a nice idea ! I want to try your polpette vegetariane !

rebecca said...

i just made the vegetarian meatballs last night and they are Awesome! thank you for sharing the recipe! even my three year old nibbled on one, and she is notoriously picky!

Related Posts with Thumbnails