Marinara Sauce

Lily’s preference is spaghetti (or penne) without meat. This recipe makes a half gallon of sauce.

Ingredients

1 quart (32 oz) canned tomatoes (whole, crushed, whatever – just not sauce) (a 29 oz can will do)

30 oz tomato sauce (2 cans)

6 oz tomato paste (1 can)

1 cup parsley (about half a bunch) - just cut the leaves where the stems end

1 cup onion, finely chopped

2 Tbl olive oil

2 Tbl roughly chopped garlic (4 - 5 cloves)

¼ cup white wine

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp black pepper

Salt to taste

Preparation

·         In a large pot (I like my enameled Dutch oven) sautee the onion in the olive oil over medium-low heat until translucent. While that is cooking--

·         Put the whole tomatoes, parsley, garlic, oregano, and pepper in a blender. Blend until pretty smooth—look in the jar to make sure there are no big chunks of parsley or garlic zipping on by. It should look like a green smoothie. Do not let this put you off. 

·         Add the puree to the onion; turn up the heat until it starts bubbling. Then turn it back down to a simmer.

·         Add the wine, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. Stir to completely break up the paste.

·         Set it on a back burner to simmer while you start the pasta water. The sauce needs to simmer at least a half hour to take the edge off the raw garlic. If you have lots of time for simmering, add a couple of bay leaves.

·         Taste for salt just before serving.