Day 30 - Spaghetti with fresh marinara + Veggie Salad

Holy moly! This is it! It's the last day of Gary's 30 Days of Cooking!! And what better way to end his challenge than to cook this wonderful meal for a bunch of friends during a House Warming Party? Let the celebration begin!

So about an hour before company was set to arrive, Gary got everything ready and started making the sauce.

Now it's time to blend these veggies into fresh marinara!

Surprisingly, the blender worked very well tonight and we had a very successful meal! Our friends J & M brought some salad they had prepared along with goat feta cheese and homemade avocado dressing. Yum!!

And of course, plenty of drinks to go around!

Spaghetti with fresh marinara

Start to finish: 50 minutes

Makes: 6 servings

Per serving: 324 calories, 10g fat (2g saturated fat), 5mg cholesterol, 393mg sodium, 48g carb, 7g fibre, 14g protein

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 1 cup chopped red sweet pepper (1 medium)
• 2 tablespoons mince garlic (Book says: 12 cloves... sounds like way too much. 2 tablespoons came to 4-5 cloves when Gary measured it)
• 6 cups chopped roma tomatoes (about 2 & 1/2 pounds) or 4 14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 cup tomato pasta (Gary just put in a full small can of tomato pasta)
• 10 ounces (or more) dried whole grain spaghetti or whole wheat spaghetti
• 3 tablespoons snipped fresh basil (or dried basil, in Gary's case)
• 2 tablespoons snipped fresh oregano (or dried oregano)
• 1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme (or dried thyme)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (can be omitted)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions: 

1. For sauce, in a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, sweet pepper, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes and tomato pasta. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions; drain. Return pasta to hot pan; cover and keep warm.
3. Stir basil, oregano, thyme, kosher salt, and black pepper into tomato mixture. Remove from heat. Cool slightly. Carefully transfer half (or less) of the tomato mixture to a blender or food processor. Cover and blend or process until nearly smooth. Repeat with remaining tomato mixture.
4. Return all of the blended sauce to the same saucepan. Heat through. Serve sauce over cooked pasta; toss to combine. Sprinkle servings with Parmesan cheese.