This is a shortcut pasta sauce very loosely based on a recipe I haven't tried but that sounds delish if you have time to go for it: https://www.happyveggiekitchen.com/spaghetti-sauce/
I will write down approximately what I did, though there's certainly room for some variation and these measurements are not precise.
Ingredients
- 1 can tomatoes (I used diced ones but doesn't really matter)
- roughly 1.5-2tbs tomato paste
- 1/2 can sliced mushrooms
- a good swig of worcestershire sauce (maybe 1/2 tsp?)
- 3 cloves minced/sliced garlic
- 1/2 onion, diced small
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup red wine
- glug of olive oil
- roughly 1 tsp mixed italian herbs (oregano, basil, etc)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbs brown sugar
Method
Again, I will write what I did (as best I remember it), which probably sped things up a bit, but you could just doing everything in one pot and add the tomatoes and tomato paste after frying everything up, if you want to save on some dishes.
- Empty the can of tomatoes into a medium-large pot and heat to simmering
- Meanwhile, heat a cast iron frying pan on another burner then add olive oil. The next bunch of steps happen in the frying pan (until you combine everything again in step 10).
- Fry garlic till fragrant
- Add onions and fry a bit
- Add mushrooms and fry some more, stirring periodically
- Season generously with salt and pepper
- Once you've cooked off some steam/liquid, add in the worcestershire sauce and stir well
- Add balsamic vinegar and fry briefly, stirring constantly
- Add red wine and cook until liquid evaporates, stirring constantly
- Add herbs, stir, then empty the contents of the frying pan into the simmering tomatoes
- Stir in tomato paste and brown sugar (add extra tomato paste if it seems too runny and you don't have time to cook it down)
- Continue to simmer the sauce while you prepare your pasta and the rest of your meal
- Either leave it chunky or give it a whiz with an immersion blender
Enjoy!
