V's Marinara-Sauce Start to Finish

Vseward (Chef~V)'s Note:

The sautéed garlic and onion added to the blender for a quick puree adds a much more aggressive taste in this sauce ;) Even though buying a jar of marinara is cheaper, you can't compare the taste of homemade sauce! After receiving a bushel full of garden tomatoes, I got adventurous and made this Homemade Sauce. It's so easy a beginner cook would impress guests! After my family raved about this, I may never buy jar sauce again. This sauce can be made and used as a spaghetti or marinara.... I used it as part of my Chicken Parmesan -- This recipe can easily be doubled or tripled and frozen! I used dried herbs, you can substitute fresh - just be sure to triple the amount ;)

• Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 6 cups

• 20 -25 large steak tomatoes , blanched (See Note * )
• 2 tablespoons light olive oil
• ½ teaspoon dried bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons italian seasoning (or 1 tablespoon basil & 1 tablespoon Oregano)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 garlic cloves , minced (add more to taste)
• 1 medium yellow onion , chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
• crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• white wine vinegar , if needed

Directions:

1. *BLANCHING TOMATOES: While stock pot or large dutch oven water is boiling, cut a large "X" with a paring knife on the bottom of tomatos. Carefully drop tomatoes in boiling water for 30 seconds. Once removed from water, place in a bowl of ice water this stops the cooking. The skin will peel right off tomatoes.
2. Blanch and peel tomatoes; set aside.
3. In a large skillet, add olive oil and Add the onion, garlic and bay leaves, sauté until limp and fragrant Add salt and pepper.
4. In a blender, (in batches) add tomatoes, and sautéed onion and garlic mixture.
5. Puree until desired consistency.
6. Transfer puree to stock pot add basil, oregano, sugar, and pepper (red pepper flakes if using) and bring to a slow boil over medium heat .
7. Reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook 2.5 hours. (Sauce will turn bright red to a dark red/orange and thicken up) Stir occasionally. Taste! If the sauce is too sweet for you, add white wine vinegar by the teaspoon (this will cut the sweet).
8. Serve over pasta, or your favorite recipes that include marinara sauce.
9. ENJOY with loved ones!
10. Any leftovers can be frozen.

Reviews

[rosslare]

Really liked the method of this simple but ah, so fragrant marinara sauce. It is not the time for fresh tomatoes, though, so I used 3 X 14 oz cans of tomatoes instead.