Red Wine Marinara Sauce

I make spaghetti and marinara all the time because I almost always have the ingredients in my fridge and pantry. Not only is it easy to prepare, it makes a delicious, hot and comforting weeknight dinner. This particular sauce was an experiment with red wine. I had a half bottle of cabernet sitting on the counter and I decided to slosh some in. Hey, why not?

Red Wine Vegetable Marinara Sauce

2 TB olive oil
1/2 white onion, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, chopped in small pieces
1 zucchini, diced small
2 TB tomato paste
1 cup water
2 14 oz. cans stewed tomatoes (blended until smooth in a blender) or you can use crushed tomatoes instead
1/2 cup red wine
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
fresh basil (about 6-7 leaves, chopped)
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and saute for a few minutes until onions brown a bit and get soft. Add carrots and zucchini and cook until they are fairly soft. Add the tomato paste and stir around and then add water and canned tomatoes. Stir to dissolve tomato paste. Add the wine, red pepper flakes, sugar and basil and bring to a boil. Then lower heat and simmer for 30 minutes or more. Season with salt and pepper to taste.


The red wine really did something to the flavor of the sauce. It made it deep and rich with a hint of sweetness. Yum!