Marinara

Fresh from the garden!

Chef’s Notes: Especially with the tomatoes being in season, there is no excuse to buy jarred sauce. This took me 40 minutes to make, start to finish; really. Nothing can quite adequately describe the awe you’ll feel when you start with a pile of fresh tomatoes and turn it into homemade marinara! Also, never hurts to can a jar or two for later! Don’t be alarmed by the size of the recipe, it’s so long because I take you through step by step what do to.

Plan of Attack:

1. Peel tomatoes

2. Saute onions

3. Blend

4. Simmer for 30 minutes

Ingredients for 2 Cups marinara (enough for one pasta dinner for 2 + enough for a pizza later):

1 pound roma tomatoes, washed

1 Tbsp tomato paste

2 Tbsp parsley (fresh or tubed)

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp dried oregano

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

½ Tbsp olive oil

½ yellow onion, diced

¼ C white wine

Instructions:

1. Bring a pot ½ filled with water to a boil. While water is heating, cut an X about an ½”-1” wide on the BOTTOM (non-stem end) of your tomatoes. Also a good time to cut up your onion and garlic; set aside
2. Have a bowl ready on the side, drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for about 1 minute until you can see the skins start to separate from the fruit.
3. Remove tomatoes from the water into the readied bowl; allow to cool for a minute
4. Dump the water from the pot and put right back onto the heat along with the olive oil to heat at medium-high heat.
5. Add onions and garlic to the pot and sauté 3-4 minutes (while you peel and chop the tomatoes)
6. To peel tomatoes, just pull towards the stem end and they should just peel right off; discard skin and roughly chop tomatoes. Add to the pot along with the onions.
7. Next add the tomato paste, parsley, salt, pepper, oregano and white wine; turn the heat down to medium-low and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Pour mixture into a blender (saving ½ C back if you want a chunkier sauce), and blend until smooth
9. Pour all back into the pot and simmer for 20-25 minutes on low heat until it reaches your desired consistency.
10. Enjoy!