Marinara Sauce

A couple things I've learned in the past couple days.
1.) If you have kids and try to do something like update a blog your kids will do everything in their power to stop you. These couple of sentences have taken me about 10 minutes and only one of two kids are awake.
2.) I need to figure out a way to take my pics during the day so I can use natural light. Again, kids running around make cooking during the day challenging. Normally I can't cook until it's close to their bed time.

I'll be posting several recipes in the future that use a red sauce. I thought before I do I'll post my go to marinara recipe. In the past I tried several complicated recipes and nothing impressed me. I finally went with an easy version a while back and I can't go back to a store bought sauce now that I found something I like.

Any tomatoes will work but these make the difference between a sauce that's just ok and a sauce that is great. These are the secret to a great red sauce. They're tomatoes that come from the San Marzano region in Italy. They are a meaty plum variety and have very few seeds. I can't stand that seedy slime you get in most tomatoes. As far as I know all of the bigger chain grocery stores carry them. If you’re looking they shouldn't be hard to find.

1 28 oz can San Marzano tomatoes
1/2 C chopped onion
1/3 C white wine
1/4 C fresh Italian parsley-chopped
1 6 oz can tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tbsp dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste

You may want to use a larger pot for this since the sauce can splatter a little. Heat the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Let them sweat a few minutes and add the chopped garlic. I wait until the garlic is just starting to brown but don't let it burn or it will get bitter and gross.

Add the remaining ingredients. The San Marzano tomatoes need some help getting broken up so smash them up with a spoon or lightly with a potato masher. To be truly authentic squish them with your hands. The sauce won’t be extremely smooth when finished so if that’s what you’re after you can blend it but you're going to let the sauce simmer uncovered for an hour or longer and that will also break down the tomatoes. If the sauce is getting thicker than you want just add a splash of water (or wine) otherwise simmer until it's the consistency you like.

This is a basic recipe that’s great on its own but add whatever sounds good. Often I use additional herbs, mushrooms, meat or red wine. This is hard to mess up so don’t be afraid to make it your own and try new things. Just taste as you make changes and you should be fine.