Marinara Sauce Recipe Using Fresh Tomatoes

Homemade marinara sauce tastes so much better than jarred or canned sauce that you can buy at the grocery store. By making it yourself, you achieve intense flavors that explode in your mouth with each and every bite.

Our favorite time to make marinara sauce is when we have just picked our own paste tomatoes from the garden. We use both San Marzano and Amish Paste tomatoes, but you could also use Romas.

It is important to use paste tomatoes to ensure that you end up with a thicker sauce.

You can peel the tomatoes if you prefer, but I don’t bother because we use an immersion blender which blends the skins directly into the sauce.

This not only saves time, but adds additional nutrional value because the lycopene in the skins remain in the sauce.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Yield: approximately 6 cups

INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion
5 cloves garlic crushed
8 cups chunked tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 small bunch of fresh basil, chopped
1 small bunch of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Add olive oil to a large sauce pan over medium heat.
   

   Using an immersion blender makes simple work out of pureeing sauces!

2. Add onions and cook until translucent.
3. Add garlic and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.
4. Add chunked tomatoes (peel included) and a pinch of salt and stir.
5. Add Italian seasoning, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low and cover for 15 minutes. Covering the pot will allow the tomatoes to break down quicker. Uncover and cook over low heat for about an hour stirring occasionally.
6. Use an immersion blender to carefully puree the sauce. Add parsley and basil and blend with the immersion blender.
7. Continue to simmer another 30 minutes to thicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can let the sauce cool and then very carefully puree in a regular blender.

Use immediately or refrigerate or freeze.

Enjoy!

Mary and Jim

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