Best Marinara Sauce
Here is what you’ll need:
– a large pot (preferably with a nonstick surface)
– 8 cloves of fresh garlic
– salt (I use sea salt)
– ~1 tsp. black pepper (freshly ground is nice)
– ~1 tsp. oregano
– extra virgin olive oil
– 2-3 handfuls of fresh basil leaves torn into pieces (grow it in the summer and freeze it)
– ~3/4 cup fresh or grated Parmesan cheese
– 2 cans (28oz.) of crushed tomatoes
– 2 cans (28oz.) of plum tomatoes
– ~1-2 lbs. of freshly ground hot Italian sausage
Turn on burner to med-low. Simply, coat the bottom of your pot with about 1/4 inch of extra virgin olive oil. Using a garlic press add the cloves to the pan. Allow garlic to soften (don’t burn). Use a wooden spoon to stir. Add all of the cans of tomatoes. Add about one can of water
for each can of tomatoes. If you like a really thick sauce, use less water. Throw in the remaining ingredients accept for the sausage.
Stir and raise the heat to med-high allowing the sauce to come to a slow boil while stirring, then turn down to low.
While the sauce is doing its thing, cook the sausage in a frying pan. Drain the fat and then place the sausage on top of a double or triple paper towel lined dinner plate to remove some more of the grease.
Add the sausage to the sauce and stir. Allow the sauce to cook on low and stir occasionally. After a few hours, taste and add more salt, pepper or other spices to your liking. Sometimes I’ll throw in a little more cheese at this point. The longer you cook it the better it is—period.
So, if you know you’ll be home one day you may want to start it in the morning. Your home will smell So good by the afternoon! I often save myself even more time and money by doubling the recipe and freezing the extras in plastic freezer bags in family sized portions.
It defrosts well by placing the bag in a pot of tepid water and tastes so much better than sauce in a jar! Don’t know what’s for dinner tonight? Grab a bag of your homemade sauce from your freezer and boil up a little whole grain pasta! Enjoy!
