Making Marinara Sauce

When I had some success growing four tomato plants last summer, this year, I decided to go for broke and I planted about twelve (I'm not sure of the exact number since critters ate a couple or possibly three of them within the first week of my planting them). As of now, I  have eleven plants that are living their best tomato producing lives. First frost could be as soon as a couple of weeks away so they are on borrowed time but as of now, thanks to abundant sunshine, warm days, and frequent watering, they are thriving and producing lots of tomatoes. So far this season, since I picked the first tomato on July 26, I've picked over 130 tomatoes.

🍅 I think they are so pretty- the mass of plants, the individual plants and the tomatoes themselves 🍅

Totally and unabashedly biased!

None of us are crazy about eating tomatoes plain and there are only so many tomatoes you can give away. I mean, I could probably give them all away if I wanted to but that would pretty much defeat the purpose of having a garden. Plus, many of my tomatoes aren't aesthetically appealing. They have little blemishes and skin imperfections. In an ideal world, I wouldn't care about the appearance of my 'maties but I do and wouldn't want to give any less than stellar looking tomatoes away.

Last summer, I found a marinara sauce recipe that looked good so I tried it. Everyone in the family likes this marinara sauce so it is what I'm sticking with. There may be a better marinara recipe floating around online or in small town church's cookbook somewhere but I will likely never know any better because my active search is over. This one is it!

I found the recipe on Allrecipe's website. I have found and continue to find so many recipes on this site! While I'd love to be in one of the those families where recipes get passed down from generation to generation, that is not the case for me... I have maybe five recipes of my mom's- that is it. Hopefully posts like these on the blog will be useful resources for my own kids if/ when they want to make something that I made and liked well enough to preserve on the blog.

Here is the original post:  Allrecipes Marinara Sauce and here is how I make it (definitely a few tweaks from the recipe as listed on AR´s site.)

Ingredients:

 3 tablespoons olive oil (I never measure this- maybe the first time I made the sauce I did!)
½ onion, chopped (I usually use closer to a whole onon)
8 large tomatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks (I use that which I think approximates 8 large tomatoes since some of mine are pretty small)
6 cloves garlic, minced 
1 bay leaf (I used to always include this but now I don't)
½ cup red wine (I use red cooking wine found in the baking aisle at the grocery store)
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon dried marjoram- I've never used this!
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon fennel seed
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar, or more to taste

• Directions

• 1. Place olive oil  in a sauce pan over low/ medium heat. Add onions to saute them.
  2. While onions are cooking, cut up tomatoes into large chunks. Add chunks to the pan. Add garlic as well and bay leaf, if using. Let this simmer for at least 30 minutes.
  3. After thirty minutes or so, remove from heat and let mixture cool a little. Remove bay leaf if included. 
  4. Blend or puree the mixture using a blender or food processor (this step could be done after the last step of simmering. The original recipe does not mention blending at all but I don't like chunky sauce so I blend it).
  5. Return mixture to the pan. Add the rest of the ingredients. Increase heat until the sauce boils and then turn the heat down so the sauce simmers. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, the sauce is done! Pour into a container and refrigerate or freeze.

• The ingredients minus the 🍅🍅

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• I love this cutting board because it has space for the compostable portions of whatever you are cutting...

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... and a pan fits underneath it to catch the juice

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• Here are the tomatoes and onions after the first 30 minute simmer.

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• Next we head to Cafe Rineer (in the dining room) where we keep the Ninja. The Ninja will puree the tomatoes. 

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• Back to the stove top for some spices and liquids. And more simmer time. 

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  Notes: 

• 1. Some recipes call for the skins of the tomatoes to be removed as a first step while some do not.  My friend who makes marinara from her garden tomatoes removes the skins. I don't do it for three reasons- I did not notice that it was listed as a step in this recipe so I didn't start out doing it. Two, skins have some nutrient value to them so it is good to include them nutritionally. Three, it's easier to leave them be. Reason number three is the primary reason that I don't remove the skins :). 

• 2. Cutting up tomatoes in the beginning will result in lots of juice on whatever surface you are cutting them on. I have an ideal cutting board for this- it is raised so it is easy to put a pan underneath it. The pan collects the juice. The first time that I made the sauce I did not realize how much juice cutting the tomatoes would produce. I did not have a pan underneath and so juice went all over the place.

• 3. This recipe makes sauce that contains both seeds and skin. Not all of the seeds will get pureed so there will be some seeds in the final product. There is a device to help remove the skins and seeds called a food mill. I have not ruled out a purchase of one in the future but as of right now, I don't have one. 

• 4.  Adjust spices/ sweeteners to whatever preference you or the sauce eating recipients would enjoy.

• 5. The sauce freezes nicely. As of now, I have four quarts in the freezer and hope to have more before the season ends. I am considering canning some. I don't have a pressure cooker and have no plans to get one (too many bad memories of my house growing up where my mom incessantly canned (in the summer) our fresh garden produce. The old farmhouse had no AC and was always miserably hot in the summer. Add in the heat of canning and the kitchen was unbearable).  I have been reading about canning that doesn't require a pressure cooker. That method would be the one that I use if I decide to can.

What pairs nicely with marinara sauce? That which people have been consuming for the ages with it- meat and pasta :). Here, specifically, are a couple of recipes that I've been using that are picky teenager approved:

1. Chicken shells- This dish is somewhat reminiscent of lasagna due to the ricotta and additional cheeses. But I think it's easier than lasagna and the shells are a fun and different touch.

Chicken stuffed jumbo shells

2. Meatballs- plenty of store bought options abound and I am not above purchasing them. But, for a bit of extra work, making your own are quite rewarding. Not a low cal/ low fat option but bursting with flavor these two meat meatballs are enjoyed by all:

Two meat meatballs

3. Chicken Parmesan- I had never made chicken parm prior to this year- I've made it twice now and will make it again. What I like it about it is that I don't use too much sauce so as to not make anyone too tired of having marinara sauce based food. I also don't "fry" the chicken via submersion in olive oil. I have oil in the pan but use a much smaller amount than is called for. 

Chicken Parmesan

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