Oh no. It's Valentine's Day and you wanted to do something special, but totally forgot because you also had to drop off cupcakes and create a valentine box for your kid who chose the theme "hot potato sprinkle unicorn poop." No problem... I got you. Let's get right down to the recipe for...
The Perfect Spaghetti Sauce
Ingredients
Whole onion
Garlic cloves
2 carrots
Spoonful of sardines canned in olive oil (you can add up to a full can but I usually reserve that for when I’m making something with seafood in it like cioppino start with just a little and adjust to you/your family’s preference)
Salt
Evoo
14 oz can of diced tomatoes with basil
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
Italian-style seasoning of choice (I actually use Flavor God’s pizza seasoning)
Water or stock of some kind
Grate of fresh nutmeg
Sprinkle of brown sugar
Directions
Chop onions, garlic, carrots
Sauté in pan on med low with olive oil (few times around pan - no need to measure) a bit of salt for about 15 min
Add sardines and drop to low stirring occasionally for about an hour - keep uncovered
Add tomatoes, seasoning, nutmeg, sugar and 14 oz (1 fill up of the small can) water/stock. Bring to a boil uncovered then drop to low and cover stirring occasionally for however long you have (the longer the better)
Serve any way you would serve jarred spaghetti sauce OR...
Step it up for your Valentine(s) and serve Cioppino
Simply make that sauce in a dutch oven and add seafood when sauce is finished!
If you are having a dinner with someone you are totally comfortable in front of feel free to go shellfish crazy but you will get dirty!
An easy eat is to add peeled and deveined shrimp, sturdy whitefish like cod, and/or cut calamari that you can eat with a spoon
Serve with crusty bread (the store bought garlic bread cooked in a bag is always a winner) and red wine!