Easy Tomato Sauce with Diced Tomatoes and Red Wine

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This Easy Tomato Sauce with Diced Tomatoes and Red Wine is perfect for a weeknight, when you want something tasty, but don’t have a lot of time to cook. Using both diced and crushed tomatoes makes the sauce thick while a splash or two of red wine gives it a luscious rich flavor.

Who doesn’t love a thick, rich sauce that has been simmering on the stove for hours? My family certainly does, but when the boys were young and in little league, I rarely had a whole day to devote to sauce making. And I am 100% Italian! Literally right off the boat Italian, so I am not about to buy a jar of ready made sauce from the grocery store!

This recipe delivers a great sauce in under an hour. To get the same thickness in a very short amount of time, I combined diced tomatoes and crushed tomatoes in my marinara. The sauce begins to thicken quickly and will continue to thicken the longer it cooks.

And the red wine, provides depth to the flavors that you might only get from a long slow cooking process.

I also add some red pepper flakes to give the sauce a spicy kick. You can use more or less to based on how much heat you like or leave the red pepper flakes out altogether if that is not your thing.

Ingredients you Need

• Diced Tomatoes: Canned tomatoes in juice or puree.
• Crushed Tomatoes: Your favorite brand.
• Red Wine: I like a full bodied wine like a cabernet sauvignon but you can use any dry red wine you like.
• Onion: Diced yellow or sweet onion.
• Garlic: Fresh, diced or minced.
• Red Pepper Flakes: This is optional and can be left out if you don’t want the spice.
• Basil: If you use fresh basil, double the amount called for in the recipe card.
• Oregano: This is one herb that Italians use dried because it has so much intense flavor when dried.
• Pecorino Romano: Grated, for serving with your pasta
• Linguine or another hearty good quality pasta.

How to Make this Simple Tomato Sauce

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Cook the diced onion, garlic and red pepper flakes in the oil until the onion is tender. Do not allow the garlic to burn or it will be bitter.
2. Add both cans of crushed and diced tomato to the skillet and stir.
3. Stir in the red wine, basil and oregano. Salt and Pepper to taste.
4. Put on a pot of water to boil your pasta. Allow the sauce to simmer while you cook the pasta. Toss the pasta with the sauce and serve with grated pecorino romano cheese.

What to Serve with This Easy Tomato Sauce

This is one of my old standby dishes. I like to serve this over linguine but it works well with almost any hearty pasta shape.

This pasta recipe is so hearty you can keep things simple and make it the main course. Just serve a side salad and dinner is ready!

Throw some steaks or chicken breasts on the grill and make up some chunky tomato sauce over pasta to go with it. Leftovers are not a problem, but if you do have any, they are just as good the next day.

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