This is the beginning of my Marvelous Marina sauce. I absolutely love the flavor of this sauce. It definitely beats the jars of marinara that you buy in the grocery store. Store bought marinara is ok when I’m out of the home-made stuff, but there is just no comparison on the flavor front. First, I heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a very large, enameled cast iron dutch oven and then add 2 chopped yellow onions, add some salt and cook until onions are tender and just starting to get some color. Next. I add two of these giant, 6-pound 10-ounce cans of San Marzano tomatoes that I get at Costco, along with some fresh oregano, basil, crushed red peppers, ground oregano, and more salt and pepper.
You have to just let this simmer for several hours on the stove top. After about 4 hours it looks like the picture on the left. The whole tomatoes are mostly broken down but there are still some chunks. If you are okay with chunky marinara then feel free to stop there, just make sure you remove the stems from the basil and oregano. But I like a smooth marinara…so after removing the stems, I got after it with the immersion blender until the sauce was nice and smooth. Then I let it simmer for another hour to let it cook down a little further and intensify the tomato flavor. What you end up with is this beautiful sauce that is deep in color and very rich in flavor.
It’s perfect over some ravioli with a generous helping of fresh grated Parmesan, over some spaghetti and meatballs, in lasagna, add some Italian sausage for a luscious meat sauce…. the sky is the limit!
From 2 large cans of tomatoes, I get 6 quarts of marinara sauce. You can preserve this in quart size canning jars by adding some lemon juice to the mix before you boil them off…or you can do as I’ve done and put it in quart size freezer containers (available on Amazon for a very reasonable price) and simply pull one out of the freezer when you’re ready to use it. Enjoy!
Marinara
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium yellow onions
- 2- 6 lb 10 oz cans, San Marzano tomatoes (I get at Costco)
- 1/2 oz pkg fresh basil
- 3-4 sprigs fresh oregano
- 1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper (If you like a little spice add 2)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
Instructions
- Add olive oil to large dutch oven and heat over medium heat until oil is just shimmering. Meanwhile roughly chop 2 medium onions. Saute onions until soft and just beginning to caramelize.
- Add tomatoes and the remainder of the seasonings to the dutch oven and simmer for 4 hours. At this point the tomatoes will be broken up and the sauce will be chunky.
- Remove stems from basil and oregano.
- If a smoother sauce is desired, use an immersion blender to puree until smooth and continue to simmer for another hour.
- Use immediately or cool completely and store in quart size freezer containers and freeze until ready to use.
- This recipe is easily cut in half.
Leave a Reply