Arrabiata Sauce

My husband is Italian. I am not. When I was growing up, I remember having pasta. It was generally spaghetti with meat sauce or it was lasagna. I do not remember having other pasta dishes at home. As a result, I don't need to have pasta more than once a week, but my husband would be content with it being a near daily entry on the menu plan. In order to meet in the middle, I have had to learn to make a variety of pasta dishes. I simply could not have the same thing each day. Many of the dishes that I make are inspired by meals we have had at a restaurant. Today, I made Arrabiata Sauce - it was inspired by the $8.95 jar of pasta sauce that we found at the grocery yesterday when my husband suggested that we pick up a jar of some spicy pasta sauce. This one was cheaper - I probably spent less than $3 on the ingredients (the tomatoes were only $2.45).

It was easy to make and the results were pretty tasty. I used a number of recipes as my inspiration, I will share a link to Una Mamma Italiana Arrabiata Sauce, as it was her brown sugar addition that was the most unique - otherwise the recipes were all similar.

Arrabiata Sauce

1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 c red wine
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 small can tomato paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
2 tsp dried Basil
2 cans crushed tomatoes

Melt butter in pan and add olive oil. Saute onion and garlic for about 5 minutes.

Add in red wine, brown sugar, tomato paste, lemon juice, Italian seasoning and basil. Stir to combine.

Add crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

We served it over Penne, with Parmesean cheese and some Italian Bread.

This sauce was very tasty. My husband indicated that it could be spicier, but it was just right for the kids. We talked about how it would be a good sauce to bake chicken in (or have with chicken and pasta).

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