Project Description

This sauce is a staple in our house as it is an ingredient for a number of other recipes. Use the biggest, freshest basil leaves you can get, don’t skimp on the garlic and parsley and ensure you use good quality canned whole tomatoes such as San Marzano tomatoes, also known as Italian or plum tomatoes.

Ingredients:

• 3 large cans (28 oz) whole plum tomatoes
• 1/4 cup blended* olive oil (*refer to Kitchen Tips)
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic
• fresh basil leaves, chopped to measure 1/4 cup
• fresh Italian parsley (flat leaf), chopped to measure 1/4 cup
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 8 grinds of pepper

*What do you mean by 'blended olive oil'?

Olive oil is a wonderful oil, but it definitely imparts a distinct taste. For dipping breads and other uses where the olive oil is to be a predominant taste, this is fine, but for cooking it can be a little overpowering. Keep an oil bottle on the counter that is 50/50 combination of regular olive oil and extra virgin olive oil to easily use in your daily cooking.

Difficulty: Easy

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Lead Time: N/A

Freezer Friendly: Yes

Leftover Alert: N/A

  1. Strain the 3 cans of tomatoes to separate the tomatoes and juice. Keep both to the side.
  2. In a 3 L pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat and add the garlic.  Cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes, trying not to let the garlic brown.
  3. Add the basil and parsley and cook for 30 seconds.
  4. Add all the tomatoes, cooking for 5 minutes before starting to break them up (use a flat wooden spoon to chop up the tomatoes).  Once all the tomatoes are broken up into small pieces add the reserved tomato juice, salt and pepper and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
  5. Take off the heat and allow to cool if not using the same day. This recipe makes 8 cups of Marinara Sauce. Many of the dishes in this site that use this sauce have been portioned to call for 4 cups or 1 portion of the sauce. As such you can split this batch into 2 portions.  Freeze or refrigerate. It will keep for a few days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
This sauce is incredibly easy to make and can be made in the course of an evening. I typically make this during a weekday evening and freeze 2 x 4 cup portions for future use.

The recipes listed below all use the Marinara sauce and are sized to call for one or two of the 4 cup ‘portions’.