A friend gave me a package of spaghetti when she returned
from a trip to Rome, Italy.
I wanted to serve it with the best jar of spaghetti sauce
that I could find. My friend did e-mail me a recipe for a homemade sauce, but
as I decided that I was going to cook it over at a friend’s house in New
Jersey, I didn’t wish to be carrying tins of canned tomatoes on the long New
Jersey Transit train ride!
She did inspire me though to try San Marzano’s Marinara
Sauce.
All of the instructions for cooking the pasta were in
Italian, but I was able to make out that I was to cook for 9 to 11 minutes.
My friend grilled some wine-and-cheese sausage, which we
then mixed in with the marinara sauce. We flavored the sauce with some crushed
garlic and tossed in some fennel and stirred all. We then served the sauce over
the cooked pasta, rather than mixing it with the pasta in a big bowl. We
finished the plate off, with some sprinkles of Romano cheese.
Delicious! The pasta had a sweet, fresh tomato taste.
Sometimes with other jarred sauces, they come with a dry, cardboard-y
aftertaste. The San Marzano sauce was also not too thick and not too watery—it
was just perfect.
Accompanying our meal, my friend opened a bottle of white
Chateauneuf du Pape that had been purchased on a trip to France. VERY nice!
My friend also made a caprese salad by slicing up a tomato,
some fresh mozzarella, and some fresh basil. Topped off with Modenaceti
balsamic glaze. A MUST buy!!
Before our meal, we did have a cheese pairing—bourbon washed
pie d’Angloys (which tasted like Epoisses, but cheaper!) and a medium-ripened
Fontina.
And, yes, it was a very CHEESY meal!
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