Marinara – For Pasta or Pizza

I don’t mean to brag but marinara is my masterpiece. It is easily the tastiest thing I cook in my kitchen and because of this, anything I make using this sauce turns to gold. (I make a mean pizza, and you can confirm that with my pizza-connoisseur of a boyfriend.) As an Italian who grew up surviving almost solely on Italian food, pasta was consumed quite often. I mean, we even have pasta for Thanksgiving. There isn’t a family holiday I’ve been to that didn’t have some form of pasta whether it’d be gnocchi or baked ziti or ravioli. So now that you know this, trust me when I tell you this sauce is great. Simple, but great.

Now I say “simple” because this sauce it’s just that. It’s extremely easy to throw together, it doesn’t take a whole lot of ingredients and it’s so quick. For a sauce like this, you want whole peeled tomatoes. Don’t bother with crushed tomatoes, I find it to be too thick. Marinara is meant to be light and thin so the pasta can take in the flavor. If you want the best-tasting tomatoes, look for San Marzano tomatoes. If you can’t find those any can of whole peeled tomatoes will work just fine. Ready for the recipe?

Marinara - For Pasta or Pizza

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

20 mins

 

A light, simple marinara that goes perfectly on pasta or used as pizza sauce.

Author: Ness

Recipe type: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Serves: about 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed but intact.
• 1 28-oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, preferably San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 4- 5 fresh basil leaves, or 1 tbsp of fresh oregano leaves* - sliced into ribbons
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat up the olive oil over medium-low heat in a saute pan. Saute the garlic until fragrant and slightly golden.
2. Pulse the tomatoes in a blender until desired consistency. I love both smooth and chunky. Add this to the pan.
3. Add the onion powder and herbs of choice.
4. Add the salt and pepper to taste and then simmer about 15 minutes until the sauce is hot and ready to serve. Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Notes

*Normally, basil is used for marinara but I prefer oregano. Fresh over dried is recommended.

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