great pasta with marina sauce recipe and sides ..?!

Here is Tyler Florence's recipe for a quick marinara sauce. I have not tried this, but I watched him make it and it looked really good (not as good as mine but mine takes all day). With pasta and red sauce you don't really need a side except for salad and garlic bread. You can serve a roasted chicken breast or some Italian sausage if you choose, just to add some protein.


Quick Marinara Sauce
(Food Network: How to Boil Water)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled, tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with about half of their juices (discarding the rest), the herb sprigs and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about 25 to 30 minutes or until thickened.

Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Stir in the salt and season with pepper, to taste. Serve or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
1 (16 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white sugar
6 leaves fresh basil leaves, torn
Directions

Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over low heat and saute garlic for about 2 minutes; be careful not to burn. Just as the garlic begins to turn brown, remove pan from heat. Allow pan to cool, and add tomatoes, wine, water, salt and sugar. Cook over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in basil.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinara-Sa…

Love the Tyler Florence recipe posted. Just DO NOT buy anything already made. And the answer is also correct in saying no sides are needed, unless it's salad and garlic bread. If there were to be a protein (like meatballs and/or Italian sausage, you'd have to brown them first then simmer them in the sauce for a few hours. I tend to simmer my sauce for about 5 hours, but the meat HAS to be cooked in the sauce... never separately. In my opinion, meat sauce ( just ground been browned and thrown in the sauce) is also a no-no. Any other side (chicken parmesan, etc.) then the pasta isn't the main dish. IT becomes the side and the chicken, etc. become the main course.

For garlic bread, buy a nice crusty good quality Ital. bread, unless you do what I do... I get a good quality crusty multi-grain bread or sprouted wheat and make my garlic bread with that. In a Pyrex (glass) measuring cup, crush 3-4 cloves of garlic and add butter. Add a little olive oil and melt in the microwave. Slice the bread almost through lengthwise, and spread mixture evenly over each side. Sprinkle each side with a little oregano. Close the bread and cut slices almost through about 2 inches wide and wrap in foil. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes. Then open it up to lightly brown under the broiler.