Roasted Vegetables and Graziano Marinara Sauce over Creamy Polenta
Graziano Marinara Sauce is made by a local company using only the freshest ingredients and I was really excited to try it. And now that I have, I'm excited to use it in my kitchen again.
Photo courtesy of Graziano Products
About Graziano Products -
Over a century ago, the Graziano family immigrated from the small Italian town of Guardia Perticara in the province of Potenza. Establishing themselves in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the young family was raised on the finest traditional Italian cooking. Over the years, friends and family alike have come to love the exceptional meals served from the Graziano kitchen. Graziano's founder, Thomas Graziano and his wife Jackie have continued the old world family tradition of enjoying home cooked meals every day of the week. They have maintained the classic integrity of the Graziano family recipes and they now look to share these delicacies with you.Chi mangia bene, Vive Bene!
When I got the sauce I fell in love with the packaging. The jar itself is rustic and screams home cooking, and the label is modern, bold, and perfectly simple. The two elements combine to make the perfect package.
Then you get a little closer to take a look at the sauce in the jar and you know how fresh it is. You can see the chunks of tomatoes and pieces of garlic and I could not wait to get it home and open it to smell and taste it.
I planned my menu for our Sunday family dinner using the sauce as my inspiration. I wanted something simple so the sauce could shine, yet comforting and rustic so I decided to roast vegetables and serve them in the sauce over creamy polenta (recipe follows at the end of this post). From looking at the jar I knew this sauce would give me the texture and consistency I wanted, and it did. And unlike every other jar of sauce I have ever tried, Graziano Marinara doesn't need any sort of "doctoring up."
This sauce is not your typical jarred sauce, but rather home cooking in a jar. The sauce looks and tastes of the freshest ingredients and it has the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. You can taste all of the ingredients with none of them dominating the tomato flavor. The texture is exactly what I want in a good marinara sauce - the chunks of tomato let you know those are real tomatoes! If you are looking for the perfect jar of marinara sauce, try Graziano Marinara. If you want to make a quick Italian meal that will taste like you cooked all day, use Graziano Marinara sauce. And even if you like making your own sauce sometimes you just don't have the time, right? This sauce will be the one you can turn to in those situations. I know that I will definitely be cooking with this again, and soon!
To buy Graziano Marinara sauce locally you can purchase it at these stores:
Olive Oil Etc., Doylestown Food Co-op, Del Val Market and None Such Farms in Doylestown, PA
Tredici Market in Wayne Pa
Luigi and Giovanni's Market in Newtown Square
Coming soon - Graziano's Fra Diavolo will be available at Suzies Hot Shope in New Hope, PA very shortly.
Additionally, you can buy it online at www.grazianoproducts.com and have it shipped to you. You can follow them on Facebook - Graziano Products, LLC - and Instagram - @GrazianoProducts. Finally, to meet the people behind this brand, I suggest you check out a great event being held in Doylestown, PA on February 26 - the Locavore. Details here.
Roasted Vegetables and Graziano Marinara Sauce over Creamy Polenta
Ingredients
- 1/2 red pepper cut into 3 slices
- 1/2 bulb of garlic separated into cloves and gently crushed
- 1 sm zucchini, halved
- 1 sm yellow squash, halved
- 1 sm eggplant, halved
- Handful of sliced mushrooms (crimini or baby bella)
- Olive oil (I like using my oil mister for spraying the veggies)
- 1.5 c low sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 c whole milk
- 1/2 c stone ground yellow cornmeal
- Salt and pepper
- Parmesan cheese
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Place veggies on a baking sheet and gently mist with olive oil. Roast for 30 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Slice everything into bite sized pieces.
- Put sauce in an oven safe sauté pan and gently heat. Stir in the veggies.
- Optional: top with freshly grated Parmesan and put the pan under the broiler for 2-3 minutes.
- While the veggies are roasting, make the polenta: Add chicken broth and milk to a medium pot and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat and very slowly stir in the cornmeal - take your time to add it slowly and continuously stir so you don't get lumps. Continue to stir until you have a thick and creamy polenta. Season with salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese.
- Put polenta on a plate or in a flat bowl and top with the veggie-marinara mixture.
Reviewers note: Graziano Products supplied me with a jar of sauce for the purpose of this recipe and review.
