Kid Friendly Recipe - Mmmmmm, Marinara

The Secret of San Marzano

The other day a reader asked me to help her out with some recipes that are "kid friendly."  In fact, a lot of people ask me about what I feed my 3 year old son when my wife and I are eating Portobello Pasta with Mushrooms and Caramelized Leeks.  Well, the answer is that he eats the same things we eat - for the most part (he REALLY loves that dish, btw).  I mean, he's not into oysters or anything, but more often than not he dines as we do.  Having said that, I realize that my kid is a bit odd and most curtain climbers are more interested in chicken nuggets and such.  Well, kids love "spaghetti", no?

Click below to check out the recipe for a simple, and kid-friendly, pasta with marinara sauce that you can have on the table in less than 30 minutes.

I said simple, and marinara is just that.  The ingredients are few, the prep time is almost nil, and it cooks quickly to boot.

Clockwise from left: Italian Parsley, DOP San Marzanos, Garlic, Onion, Basil, Oregano

See that can up there?  I don't normally advocate using anything in a can, but that particular can is no ordinary can.  It contains peeled DOP San Marzano Tomatoes.  Denominazione d'Origine Protetta, or DOP, is an EU certification that guarantees these particular tomatoes are indeed the San Marzano breed and grown in a specific area of the Campania region in Italy.  San Marzano tomatoes are simply the best tomatoes for making sauce due to their thick flesh, lack of seeds, and just right balance of sweet, bitter, and acid (they grow in the volcanic soil in the valley of Mount Vesuvius - pretty cool, huh).  DOP San Marzanos are the best of the best, and that is why we will be using those for our marinara.  Sorry, they ain't cheap.  This can was just shy of $4.  The other ingredients are:  fresh basil, fresh oregano, fresh Italian parsley, yellow onion (finely chopped), and garlic (finely chopped).  With so few ingredients, quality is key.  Any one item that is sub-par will bring down the whole dish.

First, heat some quality olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Throw in the parsley, then the garlic and onion.  Sweat that down for a minute, then add the basil and oregano along with a little salt and pepper.  This needs to cook over medium heat for a few minutes, until the onions are semi-translucent. 

Once that's done, open the can and - using your clean hands - break the tomatoes into bits as you drop them in.  Rustic chunks are better then mush in this case.  You can use some fresh tomato as well if you like.  Also, you may use some of the juice from the can to add volume to the sauce.

Let all of that simmer for a bit with the lid off or on depending on whether you need to tighten the sauce up a bit or not.  After about 15-20 minutes, you'll have this:

That's the stuff...

Now, check for salt (it will probably need quite a bit) before you toss this into some high quality pasta (linguine is my son's favorite) and sprinkle with a little parmigiano reggiano cheese.  I have had many many kids over for dinner with my son and they go nuts for this dish.  As an added bonus, this particular marinara is going into my family's secret Eggplant Parmigiana recipe, which I will share in the near future...stay tuned.