Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Marinara Sauce ...

With rising food costs, I look for ways to not only cook nutritious meals but at a lower cost. One ingredient in cooking that I use a lot of in this household is Marinara sauce, so I was delighted to find a simple and tasty recipe recently in "Garlic, Garlic, Garlic" by Linda and Fred Griffith who are fellow Clevelanders. If you are a garlic lover like me, you will love this cookbook.

As I have mentioned on this blog in the past, when following a recipe I never hesitate to use what is on hand in my pantry. Thus I made a few simple changes to the original recipe with the ingredients I had and still produced a good marinara sauce to use with pasta, pizza and my flat breads. I portioned out the sauce into two-cup freezer containers to freeze for later use. As soon as tomatoes are in season here in NE Ohio I will be adapting this recipe using fresh tomatoes.

Marinara Sauce Recipe

1/4 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 candy onions with leaves, chopped fine
2 28 oz. cans plum tomatoes, with juice
2 tsp. dried basil
2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne
Kosher salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 tsp. baking soda

In large saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add garlic and onions, sautee until tender, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, oregano and cayenne. Bring to boil, simmer 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper and baking soda. Blend thoroughly and serve.

Loosely adapted from "Garlic, Garlic, Garlic" by Linda and Fred Griffith

22 comments:

PGL said...

Now this sounds like something even I could handle. Looks good Mom. :)

OhioMom said...

LOL ... yes you can. Brown a little Italian sausage, or sautee some veggies and serve over a pasta dish.

I will definitely be making more of this.

SPICEHOUND said...

What is the baking soda for?

Lucy said...

I just love this type of sauce ;-)

OhioMom said...

Kevin

...to neutralize the acid, some people will put a little sugar in their sauces as well. The acid in tomato based sauces doesn't bother me, but the recipe called for that as well as hot chiles (which I did not add) so I figured "what the heck" :)

Lucy ... so do I, which is another reason I am hoping for maters from my garden

Dhanggit said...

nothing beats the goodness of home made sauces like this!! i could see them oozing on my pasta!!

OhioMom said...

You are right about that Dhanggit, thanks for stopping by my blog ...

shambo said...

That sauce sounds just lovely. I'm a big fan of homemade sauces too. I'm getting fresh garlic & basil from that CSA I joined, so this would be a wonderful way to insure that nothing goes to waste. Thanks for the recipe.

OhioMom said...

Hi Sue

I am growing maters and basil in my little rooftop garden, I hope to put up enough of this sauce to last me through the winter :) I will plant some garlic this Fall for next year.

Beth said...

A simple amd versatile sauce - and cheap too - excellent!

Michelle said...

Sounds delicious!

OhioMom said...

Thanks Beth and Michelle ... I will definitely be "making my own" from now on.

giz said...

Home made is always the best. I've never heard of Mexican oregano and generally grow the Italian or Greek variety. Up until just recently I even did the September long weekend making tomato sauce - about 120 jars for the year. I worked it out to $.75/mason jar vs. about $2.99 for store bought.

OhioMom said...

Hi Giz

The price of store-bought has really shot up, along with everything else.

I buy my herbs/spices from Kevin, The Spicehound, at my farmers market .. that is where I got the Mexican oregano

Kevin said...

Marinara sauce is one of my favorites. I like to make big batches and keep the extras in the freezer. It is such a useful sauce to have around. I am looking forward to the fresh tomatoes to make marinara sauce with.

OhioMom said...

Hi Kevin

That is my "summer mater plan" :)

bee said...

this is a universal favourite. we roast the whol garlic bulb and use it.

OhioMom said...

Oh Bee, good idea about roasting the garlic first ... thanks for the tip :)

******* said...

You can't have too much marinara, right? I make a summer sauce with all those tomatoes...I roast them first..it's very nice. Your sauce looks great, kiddo ;)

OhioMom said...

Maryann

Thanks to you and Bee I will be roasting my garlic and maters for the next batch ... anyone have any suggestions/additions, please feel free to leave comments. Unlike certain children I know, I listen to good advice ... :)

Chef Jeena said...

What a fabulous sauce!

OhioMom said...

Thanks Jeena :)