a belated tuesday and marinara sauce

This post was supposed to be done up on Tuesday, when the pictures were taken, and linked to Tasty Tuesdays, which Alissa hosts over at 33 Shades of Green. I didn't quite make it on Tuesday (or Wednesday) but here I am, on Thursday, linking it up.

My favourite recipe to use for marinara and pasta sauce was adapted from this super-simple and super-tasty Yummy Marinara Sauce over at My Square Foot Garden. I use this for spaghetti, tortellini, lasagna, and other pasta bakes.

Start with the ingredients. Those would be the ones in the foreground. Mushrooms, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes (or whole ones to be chopped, since I was out of diced), onion, garlic, bell pepper, celery, carrots, and herbs and garlic which are not shown. I don't usually add the tomato paste called for in the recipe.

Finely chop the celery and the onion.

In a large stockpot, melt a tablespoon of butter (or use olive oil) and add the celery and onion to begin to soften. Chop the pepper and carrot.

Add the carrots and pepper to the celery and onion in the pot.

Crush the garlic the didn't make it to the group picture.

Open and dump into the pot, the tomatoes. Chop your whole tomatoes if you don't have diced.

Admire your can of mushrooms. It makes me happy to use Canadian products.

Be weirdly amused by the not so photogenic contents.

Add in lemon juice, honey, and herbs and spices including onion powder, basil, oregano, salt, and thyme.

Simmer for 30 minutes or up to several hours. Try not to drool into the spoon as you lift it to taste.