WASHINGTON 鈥� So you’re having people over for the Super Bowl and you’ve got the usual suspects on the table 鈥� chili and chips. “There is one thing that you can make that will up your game so much that you can buy everything from the store,鈥� says 草莓传媒鈥檚 resident food expert Mary Beth Albright.
Marinara sauce, Albright says.
You can dip mini pizzas into it, pigs in a blanket, chips — anything you鈥檇 contemplate eating from a spork during a football game.聽鈥淚’m here to tell you, if you create a simple marinara 鈥� fantastic,鈥� Albright says.
To whip up the sauce, start with a couple of large cans of whole tomatoes (Albright likes the San Marzano brand). Use your hands to break up the tomatoes. Coat the bottom of a pot with olive oil and add the tomatoes.
Next, slice up some garlic into really thin slices.
“You ever see that scene in 鈥楪oodfellas,鈥� where they’re in prison and they’re shaving the garlic with razors, really really thin? That’s how I want you to get the garlic,鈥� she says.
After the garlic, add a little salt, pepper, red chili flakes and a sprig of fresh basil. Don’t worry if you don’t have the basil, though.
“A spring of fresh basil in February 鈥� you might have to mortgage the house for because it gets expensive,鈥� Albright says.
Next, bring the pot it to a really big simmer and let it cook for 20 minutes or so. The sauce should take on an orange hue.
鈥淚t’s a sauce that tastes like summer but it coats your mouth in a comfort way that you need in the winter,鈥� Albright says. 鈥淵ou can dip anything in that.鈥�
What else can you serve by way of snacks or finger food?
Pigs in a blanket with artisanal sausage and puff pastry bought in the grocery store鈥檚 freezer section. 鈥淒ump that into the marinara sauce and you have a Super Bowl party, my friend,鈥� Albright said.
Also, consider making macaroni and cheese in muffin tins.鈥淵ou can just eat it with your hands, so you’re not messing around with how to get it on your spork,鈥� she says.
As it turns out, sporks are rather important on game day.聽Things that are hard to eat might require guests to look down at their plates while they鈥檙e watching the game. You鈥檒l risk upsetting your guests if they miss a big play because they were looking down, managing your frou-frou food.
鈥淢y rule is nothing that can’t be eaten with a spork.鈥�
