Marinara Sauce

By Graham Stewart on July 1, 2024

For fathers day I received some cans of San Marzano tomatoes. That may seem like a strange fathers day gift, but for me it's a great gift. Think for anyone who loves to cook like I do it's a pretty cool gift. The San Marzano tomatoes came with some other things to cook with. I think my new toy for the stand mixer promoted the idea for the gift. What ever it was the gift was greatly appreciated.

Marinara sauce is about the simplest sauce you can make for pasta, because it's all about the tomatoes. There aren't many ingredients needed to make it and if you have great tomatoes it tastes fantastic. It has multiple uses and is a starter sauce for many things. The better the tomatoes the better it's going to turn out.

Thanks to our son I had the absolute best tomatoes you can get. If you're a food nut like I am San Marzano tomatoes are worth the cost.

1 - 28oz can San Marzano tomatoes

1 medium size onion diced

5 minced cloves garlic

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons oregano

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon anchovy paste, optional

1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat a large saucepan on medium heat. Add oil, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook about 2 minutes and add tomato paste, oregano, and anchovy paste, stir until tomato paste is well combined. Add the can of tomatoes, reduce heat to a very low simmer. Cover and simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and blend until smooth with an immersion blender ( you can do it in batches with a standard blender or a food processor ).

It makes a large amount which is fine because you can keep it in the freezer for up to 3 months.