homemade marinara sauce

This weekend is Anna Mae’s first communion. We have out-of-town guests, soccer games, and a baseball practice to add to the mix. I thought it might be wise to get ahead of it all at least with the food.

Today I made four jars of marinara sauce — one for tonight, one for Saturday night, and 2 more for next week.  It was super easy, smelled wonderful, and tasted better than anything store-bought. Everyone who stopped in today had to check out what I was up to…

My marinara sauce does not follow any recipe exactly – I have a couple to consult, but enjoy tweaking it myself. Today I used:

 2 (28 ounce) cans of whole tomatoes, packed in juice

Olive oil

Onion

Garlic

Oregano

Dry red wine

Basil

First, put a colander on top of a big pot and dump the tomatoes. As the juice runs into the pot, you may need to smash the tomatoes by hand (be careful not to spray yourself) and remove the tough spot where the fruit attached to the plant. Remove about 1 ½ cups of the smashed tomatoes and set aside. Leave about 5 cups of the liquid in the pot and discard the rest.

In a skillet put olive oil on medium heat and add the onion. Keep it moving until it is soft and brown in the edges. Then add garlic (about 4 cloves), basil (6 pinches), and oregano (1 pinch). Stir.

Add the tomatoes that are still in the strainer and cook for another 10ish minutes. Add about 2/3 cup of wine and cook another minute or so.

Transfer everything in the skillet into a food processor and give it a few quick pulses. This will break up the rest of the tomatoes. Add the reserve tomatoes for the last pulse or two – to give the sauce a chunky texture.

Finally, put the sauce in the original pot and let it simmer for a bit. Be sure to add oregano, basil, salt, pepper, or even sugar if needed. This is a great time to clean up the kitchen!

I filled four large mason jars with sauce to keep in the refrigerator and use within a week or so. There was enough left in the pot to toss with ravioli for tonight’s dinner. I added a salad and garlic toast to make it a great after practice meal.

Let me know if you try it – happy cooking!