Marvelous Marinara!

If you haven’t been making your own marinara sauce, I urge you to do so.

The difference in taste between home cooked marinara and something out of a jar is huge. And this simple tomato sauce is not difficult to prepare. I even cooked a pot of marinara in that less than stellar kitchen in the Vermont condominium last January.

Here is a basic recipe using canned tomatoes that you can double or triple if need be.

Chop a small to medium onion and begin to sauté it in olive oil. Finely chop 4 or 5 (or more!) cloves of garlic and add to the pan. After the onions and garlic have softened, drain the juice from 28 oz. of canned whole tomatoes into the pan. I then cut the whole tomatoes into rough pieces before adding them. You may choose to chop them in a food processor or simply break them up after adding them to the pan. I don’t use canned diced tomatoes because I like the solid to liquid proportion of the whole tomatoes.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and season with a bay leaf, salt, some grinds of pepper, and even a sprinkle of sugar if you like a sweeter marinara sauce as the Sicilians do. Roughly chop 4 or 5 leaves of fresh basil and put that in along with 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. (As for the rest of the tomato paste in that little can, it will keep quite a while in a bowl in the refrigerator or you can freeze it.)

Stir well, reduce the heat and cook gently for 15 or 20 minutes to thicken and let the flavors develop. Use it right away or set it aside. It can wait at room temperature for several hours; longer than that, refrigerate it. The flavor intensifies as it waits, so if I have the chance, I make it a while before I plan to use it.

Marinara can be served over pasta, used in dishes like eggplant parmesan or as a topping for pizza.

Charlene likes to stuff manicotti with ricotta and grated parmesan then spoon this over and bake topped with more parmesan. Yummy!