I love a good marinara sauce!  I have been making this sauce for ages and have realized that I have never posted it before. This sauce is very easy and very versatile and it’s not worth buying the ready-made sauce. Tomatoes are still abundant and cheap and I grow basil in a pot on my small balcony. Even when tomatoes are out of season, I make marinara sauce with canned tomatoes, sometimes I use pummaro or tomato paste, depending on what I have at home. Sometimes, I add grated carrots to the sauce and depending on the season I add fresh oregano as well. Sometimes I add thyme or dried basil. It is so easy to make and tastes a million times better than the store bought one. I always made a big batch to use and freeze the leftover in a Tupperware.
I use this sauce to make an easy spaghetti dish, especially during lent, serve it with meatballs, on pizzas, in calzone etc.



Homemade Marinara Sauce

Preparation time:  10 minutes

Cooking time:  20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 kilo fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and grated or 1 can (500 grams) whole tomatoes with juice and 1 pummaro tomato juice (500 grams)
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 big onion, grated
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • About 10 fresh basil leaves
  • 1 sprig fresh oregano, only the leaves
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper and variety of peppers
  • 1 tsp boukovo (sweet pepper flakes)
  • ½ tsp sugar (optional), depending on the tartness of the tomatoes


Directions:

  1. In a food processor add the onion, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and puree.
  2. In a saucepan heat the remaining olive oil and add the pureed onion and sauté for a few minutes.
  3. In the same food processor puree the fresh or canned tomatoes with the fresh basil and oregano leaves and add to the sautéed onion and mix.
  4. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, stirring often until the sauce is thick. If using fresh tomatoes, you may add some sugar if tomatoes are tart.

  • Share/Bookmark

Tags: , , , , , , ,

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

23 Responses to “Homemade Marinara Sauce”

  1. Ο/Η alison λέει:

    hello,ivy!a very good sauce,easy to make and so good for pasta!thanks for your visits!:))

  2. Ο/Η jen of a2eatwrite λέει:

    It's so funny… I kept looking at your recipe and waiting for the sugar. Yup, that pinch of sugar seems necessary to me for marinara, but what do I know? ;-) This looks delicious, Ivy!

  3. Ο/Η Susan @ SGCC λέει:

    Your sauce looks beautiful! I also always have homemade marinara sauce on hand. You can use it for so many things. I could spoon it right out of the pot and eat it as is!

  4. Ο/Η Cakelaw λέει:

    Looks delicious Ivy – everyone needs a good, simple pasta sauce recipe.

  5. Ο/Η Peter G λέει:

    I love a simple tomato sauce Ivy…thank you for sharing yours…looks delicious!

  6. Ο/Η Peter λέει:

    Everyone should have their own "marinara sauce"…no reason to buy any of the stuff at the supermarket. Canned tomatoes are very good these days.

  7. Ο/Η Lisa Henderson λέει:

    Wow, this sounds amazing and easy to make. Now I want to get a basil plant.

  8. Ο/Η cakebrain λέει:

    Your basil plant looks so prolific! wonderful! I love to make my own marinara sauce too. Yours looks delicious!

  9. Ο/Η Happy Cook λέει:

    I too love a good sauce and this just looks lip smacking delicous.

  10. Ο/Η tasteofbeirut λέει:

    I love the photo, very appetizing!

  11. Ο/Η Maria λέει:

    I've never bought jarred marinara as I too believe it is such a great staple to make yourself. I also make large batches and store in airtight containers which I place in the freezer for future use. Great recipe Ivy. I too had a pot of basil in the yard all summer but it seems to be dwindling away. I wonder, should I bring the pot indoors?

  12. Ο/Η Lissie λέει:

    Homemade marinara sauce looks so good… delicious over the pasta! I liked your basil plant :)

    Please collect your awards from my blog, Ivy…

  13. Ο/Η Nadjibella λέει:

    Une vraie sauce tomate maison ne peut être que très bonne. Bravo!

  14. Ο/Η BenHerrera λέει:

    I agree 100% that buying this sauce at the store is not worth it. I love all the spices you use in yours.

  15. Ο/Η 5starfoodie λέει:

    mmm… homemade marina sauce sounds just perfect! Excellent recipe!

  16. Ο/Η Usha λέει:

    Homemade marinara sauce sounds fantastic, would love to try it ! I am sure this tastes way better than those store bought sauces….

  17. Ο/Η lizcupcakes λέει:

    Sometimes it's good to be reminded of the simpler things. I just want to toss a little parmesan on that last picture and dig in with my fork!

  18. Ο/Η Reeni λέει:

    I love a good homemade Marinara! Looks delicious, Ivy!

  19. Ο/Η Velva λέει:

    You can never go wrong with a good homemade marinara sauce. This looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

  20. Ο/Η Soma λέει:

    This recipe is a keeper. I never buy my pasta sauce. Love the deep color of the sauce.

  21. [...] Marinara Sauce (see recipe here) [...]

  22. Ο/Η Calzone λέει:

    [...] Marinara Sauce (see recipe here) [...]

Leave a Reply

You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>