Marinara sauce in a pinch

Ok, I relented - gave up on the constant nagging, "You never cook what I like," and made my son some lasagna.  Alas, he didn't even come home to eat it.  Of course, he would have preferred meat lasagna, but I put the veggies for me - it's good to be the queen.  Chopped up and sauteed some frozen spinach that's been sitting in the freezer for months, shredded and sauteed the last of the summer squash, and layered it with Barilla no-boil pasta.  Easy is my middle name.  Well, not really, but that's another long story worthy of its own post.

On the way home from protesting corporate greed, I stopped at Shoprite to pick up a few things.  I got the idea about making lasagna because the ricotta and shredded cheeses (sorry Peter, not yours) were on sale.  It was late in the day, and my culinary juices were at their usual Saturday low, so I opted for a jarred brand of marinara sauce.  Because my budget is lean - somewhere near where I'd like my body to be - I scanned the brands for price and checked the ingredients.  Most of the name brands were reasonable, but there's the sugar thing.  I don't know if the adding sugar to pasta sauce (gravy) thing runs in your family, but it didn't run in mine.  Ewe!

Anyway, I decided to try the store brand because it was a larger size than the others - I don't know about you, but I never have enough sauce when I make a lasagna and always have to open a second jar, the leftover of which usually develops a nice thick green mold before I might have the opportunity to use it again -  it was only $1.79, and voila, no sugar.

All I had to do was quickly assemble the dish, and licking the spoon (admit it, you lick the spoon and stir again too) was surprised at the tangy, tomatoey flavor.  Anyway, because I had the extra sauce, I made the lasagna with extra layers - it was a tall lasagna - and it turned out great.

Please don't tell anyone in my family that I used jarred sauce - I would never live it down.  I make my own, it's great, but I still can't seem to duplicate my big sister's marinara.  She's not the one considered the greatest cook; some people just have the knack.  Like Nanny (my grandmother) making soup.

Anyway, I'm not providing the recipe here; everyone has their own.  But, you might want to try the marinara the next time you Shoprite.