MARINARA SAUCE

CLASSIC PASTA SAUCE & GREAT DRESSING FOR OTHER DISHES

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This is is the simplest and freshest thing to make for pasta, its flavor should be straightforward and delicate with a great aroma of fresh basil and tomato. That doesn’t keep it from being nearly unavailable everywhere outside of the home kitchen, yet everyone tries to make a ‘jarred’ or ‘canned’ version that fails to make a fair comparison. 

Canned, peeled tomatoes in basil will do fine and provide a faster alternative to fresh Roma tomatoes for the main ingredient. Fresh basil is hard to substitute, but Abuela freezes basil in an air tight bag which does a really good job at keeping the right flavor preserved. Dried basil will hardly live up to the task but it will work in a pinch. 

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INGREDIENTS:

1	28 oz can of peeled tomatoes (Alternatively 6-7 fresh Roma tomatoes)
1/2	Large Onion
3	Garlic cloves
1	Small carrot
1-2	Sprigs of fresth basil
1 tsp	Sea Salt
1/8 tsp	Black Pepper
1/4 cup	Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 cup	Chicken Stock

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FLAVOR NOTES:

Spice in this case is the strength of the garlic and basil. This sauce should have a deep flavor, with plenty of umami, and sweeter profile from its longer boil.

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INSTRUCTIONS:

• Dice onion, mince garlic, and chop carrot into large 2-3in long chunks
• Process peeled tomatoes with a food mill, immersion blender, or food processor (tomato puree can also work but watch out for pureed tomatoes that are already seasoned). Some people find the tomato seeds to be bitter and not ideal, in that case you can strain the sauce to make a ‘passata’ that will have no tomato peel or seeds in it.
• Fry the onion and garlic in medium heat in a 2-3qt sauce pan or pot, using half of the olive oil until onion is translucent and starts to brown a little.
• Add tomato, salt, pepper, basil, and optional chicken stock to pot. Bring to a boil slowly while stirring ingredients and making sure the bottom of the pot doesn’t charr the tomato.
• Once boiling turn heat to low and cap with a lid to simmer for desired time. This sauce can be done in as little as 10-15 min or much longer based on the flavor you’d like to achieve. A longer boil will deepen the tomato flavor and make a sweeter sauce (this is great for a Ragu style sauce, a shorter boil will be more sour and crisp in flavor) a classic ragu tends to boil for around 20-25 minutes.
• This sauce is the base for a Ragu sauce, but you add the meat with the onions and garlic to fry it up and brown it before adding the tomato sauce.