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 vegan spaghetti dish, especially during lent, as you can see in the photo with no cheese, but feel free to use grated cheese as well.
I also serve it with meatballs, on pizzas, in calzone etc.
Homemade Marinara Sauce
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: about 30 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)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 big onion, grated
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- About 1/2 cup 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)
- 1 tbsp sugar or honey (optional), depending on the tartness of the tomatoes
Directions:
- Wash and make a cross section below each tomato and remove the green stalk, if any. Heat a large pot with water and put the tomatoes in for less than 1 minute. Cool under running water and then peel each tomato and remove the the green and hard core.
- In a food processor add the onion, garlic and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and puree.
- In a saucepan heat the remaining olive oil and add the pureed onion and sauté for a few minutes.
- In the same food processor puree the fresh or canned tomatoes and tomato paste with the fresh basil and oregano leaves and add to the sautéed onion and mix.
- Season with salt and pepper as well as boukovo and dried herbs and simmer, stirring often until the sauce is thick. If using fresh tomatoes, you may add a tablespoon of sugar or honey, if tomatoes are tart.
Other relevant recipes:
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi,
Tags: basil, Easy recipes, How to peel tomatoes, How to.., lenten, marinara sauce, Nistisimo, Pasta, Sauces, spaghetti, Tips-cooking, tomatoes, vassilikos
hello,ivy!a very good sauce,easy to make and so good for pasta!thanks for your visits!:))
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!
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!
Looks delicious Ivy – everyone needs a good, simple pasta sauce recipe.
I love a simple tomato sauce Ivy…thank you for sharing yours…looks delicious!
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.
Wow, this sounds amazing and easy to make. Now I want to get a basil plant.
Your basil plant looks so prolific! wonderful! I love to make my own marinara sauce too. Yours looks delicious!
I too love a good sauce and this just looks lip smacking delicous.
I love the photo, very appetizing!
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?
Homemade marinara sauce looks so good… delicious over the pasta! I liked your basil plant
Please collect your awards from my blog, Ivy…
Une vraie sauce tomate maison ne peut être que très bonne. Bravo!
I agree 100% that buying this sauce at the store is not worth it. I love all the spices you use in yours.
mmm… homemade marina sauce sounds just perfect! Excellent recipe!
Homemade marinara sauce sounds fantastic, would love to try it ! I am sure this tastes way better than those store bought sauces….
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!
I love a good homemade Marinara! Looks delicious, Ivy!
You can never go wrong with a good homemade marinara sauce. This looks absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
This recipe is a keeper. I never buy my pasta sauce. Love the deep color of the sauce.
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