even though a may look it, i am NOT italian. but i've always felt a little bit like i was. with my olive skin, fiery personality and strong affinity for fresh pastas and garlic, i've always connected with the italian culture and people. so much so, that i married an italian guy. 

i must have been italian in another life because as soon as i started to learn to cook, i was drawn to italian cooking. and when wes and i went to visit my brother who played water polo in rome for a year, i never felt more at home. so it is no surprise that homemade pastas and sauces have become my specialties. 

now that the weather is cooling and swim lessons are slowing, i THOUGHT i would have a bit more time on my hands. WRONG. things seem to be crazier than ever for both me and wes. so i've taken to making easy staples that we can keep in the fridge and pull out at the drop of the hat. 

this sauce is perfect because it is low maintenance to make, can easily be tweaked with a few of your favorite ingredients and can be stored for a week in the fridge or up to six months in the freezer. since wes likes a little extra animal protein, you could quickly cook up so ground beef or turkey and then add your stored sauce to make a delicious meat sauce. i like a sauce full of delicious mushrooms. so i saute them up, add the sauce and voila. sauce perfection. OR, you can just serve this sauce up as is with your favorite homemade or store bought pasta. i served mine up with my favorite trader joes lobster ravioli because at the moment, ain't nobody in this house got time for that! 

easy sunday sauce
serves: 4 cups
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 40 minutes
total time: 50 minutes
ingredients: 1 brown onion, diced. 5 garlic cloves, minced. 2 tbs olive oil. 2 cups dry red wine (you can read all about how to choose the right wine HERE). 3 tbs tomato paste. .25 cup chopped fresh basil. 3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and roughly chopped. 1 tbs dried italian spice blend (great to keep on hand). 4 cups (3 15 oz cans) tomato sauce. 1 cup of water. 3 tbs sugar. 1 tbs kosher salt. .5 tbs fresh ground black pepper. 

in a large heavy pot over medium heat, combine the olive oil, onions and garlic. season with three pinches of your salt and 1 of your pepper. cook until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant. about 5-7 minutes. 

turn up the heat to medium high and pour in half the red wine, your dried herbs and two more pinches of salt and one more of pepper. stirring as the wine cooks down, scraping up any brown bits created by the cooking onions. cook the wine down until it almost completely evaporated, 3-5 minutes. 

add in the tomato paste and give it a good stir till the paste is completely combined. 

add in your your fresh herbs and a couple more pinches of salt and one of pepper. stir well to combine. 

pour in the tomato sauce and the water. 

add in the remaining wine, the sugar and the remaining salt and pepper and give everything a good stir. 

bring your sauce to a simmer and then reduce the heat to medium. let it cook down until the sauce has reduced and thickened so that you can see the sauce line on your pot has gone down about an inch. about 20-30 minutes. make sure to taste the sauce to make sure all the alcohol has cooked out. trust me, it will taste a bit boozy if it hasn't. 

then serve with your favorite pasta or store in the fridge or freezer till you are ready to use. 

xo, a

easy sunday sauce
serves: 4 cups
prep time: 10 minutes
active time: 40 minutes
total time: 50 minutes
ingredients: 1 brown onion, diced. 5 garlic cloves, minced. 2 tbs olive oil. 2 cups dry red wine (you can read all about how to choose the right wine HERE). 3 tbs tomato paste. .25 cup chopped fresh basil. 3 sprigs thyme, leaves removed and roughly chopped. 1 tbs dried italian spice blend (great to keep on hand). 4 cups (3 15 oz cans) tomato sauce. 1 cup of water. 3 tbs sugar. 1 tbs kosher salt. .5 tbs fresh ground black pepper.
in a large heavy pot over medium heat, combine the olive oil, onions and garlic. season with three pinches of your salt and 1 of your pepper. cook until the onions are translucent and the garlic is fragrant. about 5-7 minutes. turn up the heat to medium high and pour in half the red wine, your dried herbs and two more pinches of salt and one more of pepper. stirring as the wine cooks down, scraping up any brown bits created by the cooking onions. cook the wine down until it almost completely evaporated, 3-5 minutes. add in the tomato paste and give it a good stir till the paste is completely combined. add in your your fresh herbs and a couple more pinches of salt and one of pepper. stir well to combine. pour in the tomato sauce and the water. add in the remaining wine, the sugar and the remaining salt and pepper and give everything a good stir. bring your sauce to a simmer and then reduce the heat to medium. let it cook down until the sauce has reduced and thickened so that you can see the sauce line on your pot has gone down about an inch. about 20-30 minutes. make sure to taste the sauce to make sure all the alcohol has cooked out. trust me, it will taste a bit boozy if it hasn't. then serve with your favorite pasta or store in the fridge or freezer till you are ready to use. 

this morning on my way home from yoga, i stopped at the store for a few ingredients for some cake recipes i am testing later this week. i walked out of the store with three of the four ingredients i went in for (of course i forgot the almond milk), bobby pins, a giant bag of blood oranges and a giant bag of pink zebra lemons. you know, just in case they run out before i get back in there again. 

the woman had to ask me what most of my items were (not uncommon). what i'm rambling on about is that i think i have a citrus addiction. i just can't get enough citrus in all it's many shapes, sizes and colors. lately, my favorite use is for meat marinades. this chicken marinade is quick to whip up and packs a lot of flavor. grilling the chicken is quick, easy, healthy and it adds even more delicious flavor. i'm usually in some sort of a hurry so i usually eat it over some sort of bed of greens with a dressing, but you could serve it over rice, roasted vegetable or mashed potatoes. whatever your little heart desires. 

sweet citrus grilled chicken
serves: 4
prep time: 5 minutes
inactive time: 1-24 hours
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 lbs chicken breast tenders (they cook more quickly and evenly, otherwise use thinly pounded chicken breasts). 1 tbs citrus zest. 1 cup citrus juice (depending on your preference, but i used orange juice, lime juice and blood orange juice). 5 garlic cloves, smashed. .5 cup olive oil. 3 green onions, chopped. 2 tbs brown sugar. 1 tbs whole grain mustard. 1 tbs salt. 1 tsp pepper. optional: .5 cup white wine for marinade reduction. 4 cups mixed greens (i used half radicchio, half arugula) for serving. 

start by prepping your chicken. pat your chicken dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. set it aside. 

then in a medium bowl, combine the citrus zest, juice, sugar, olive oil, garlic, green onion, mustard and the rest of the salt and pepper. 

whisk the marinade together. 

drizzle the marinade over the chicken, cover and set aside. let the chicken marinade for at least an hour, up to overnight. when you are ready to grill, warm your grill to a medium high (or cook it over a medium spot if you have a coal grill). 

place the chicken on the hot grill and allow it to cook until grill marks develop on each side, flipping once. about 4 minutes a side (longer if you are not using tenders). 

once your chicken is done grilling, remove it from the heat and cover it with foil. allow it to rest for 5-7 minutes. 

if you are making the optional marinade reduction, while the chicken is cooking, pour the marinade into a saucepan. bring the liquid to a boil over medium high heat. allow the marinade to boil for a minute or two until it is very bubbly and thickening (you want to make sure you cook out any bad chicken bits as well). pour in the white wine and allow the liquid to come back to a boil allowing the alcohol to cook off. about 2 minutes. turn off the heat and allow the sauce to just stay warm. 

serve over your mixed greens, drizzled with the marinade reduction. 

xo, a
sweet citrus grilled chicken
serves: 4
prep time: 5 minutes
inactive time: 1-24 hours
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 1 hour 20 minutes
ingredients: 1.5 lbs chicken breast tenders (they cook more quickly and evenly, otherwise use thinly pounded chicken breasts). 1 tbs citrus zest. 1 cup citrus juice (depending on your preference, but i used orange juice, lime juice and blood orange juice). 5 garlic cloves, smashed. .5 cup olive oil. 3 green onions, chopped. 2 tbs brown sugar. 1 tbs whole grain mustard. 1 tbs salt. 1 tsp pepper. optional: .5 cup white wine for marinade reduction. 4 cups mixed greens (i used half radicchio, half arugula) for serving.
start by prepping your chicken. pat your chicken dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with half the salt and pepper. set it aside. then in a medium bowl, combine the citrus zest, juice, sugar, olive oil, garlic, green onion, mustard and the rest of the salt and pepper. whisk the marinade together. drizzle the marinade over the chicken, cover and set aside. let the chicken marinade for at least an hour, up to overnight. when you are ready to grill, warm your grill to a medium high (or cook it over a medium spot if you have a coal grill). place the chicken on the hot grill and allow it to cook until grill marks develop on each side, flipping once. about 4 minutes a side (longer if you are not using tenders). if you are making the optional marinade reduction, while the chicken is cooking, pour the marinade into a saucepan. bring the liquid to a boil over medium high heat. allow the marinade to boil for a minute or two until it is very bubbly and thickening (you want to make sure you cook out any bad chicken bits as well). pour in the white wine and allow the liquid to come back to a boil allowing the alcohol to cook off. about 2 minutes. turn off the heat and allow the sauce to just stay warm. once your chicken is done grilling, remove it from the heat and cover it with foil. allow it to rest for 5-7 minutes. serve over your mixed greens, drizzled with the marinade reduction.