Everyone should have a delicious marinara sauce in their "cooking closet" repertoire they can quickly knock out to use as a base sauce for Italian cooking or as a simple dipping sauce. You can spend hours over a hot stove making something truly special, or with a few ingredients and a little effort, create today's recipe, Not Your Nonna's Marinara Sauce! It may not be traditional and certain Italians may even call it blasphemous, but you will quickly fall in love with this simple, versatile marinara sauce. Whether you love Italian food or simply prefer to make your own sauces from scratch, this recipe is for you...Let's Get Cooking!
Honestly, there is no need to break down and fully describe the steps to making this Not Your Nonna's Marinara Sauce, so feel free to hit the link above and jump straight to the recipe card. However, some people still prefer a good old fashioned step-by-step explanation with pictures so I will add a quick description for those folks so everyone can make this tasty marinara sauce with no problems!
Step 1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over Medium to Medium-High heat. Let the oil come up to a warm temperature for a few minutes, 2 to 3 minutes max.
Step 2. Add minced garlic and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the garlic. Let it simmer in the hot oil for 1 to 2 minutes until fragrant, but before browning.
Step 3. Add tomato paste and stir into olive oil/garlic mixture. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Let the tomato paste melt into the oil and create a homogenous mixture.
Step 4. Carefully pour in the can of whole peeled tomatoes and crush with the back of a spoon. Season with salt/pepper and a pinch of sugar. Do not dump the can and splash hot oil all over your kitchen or self. It is not pleasant to clean up or for your skin. You can use a large wooden spoon to scoop out the whole peeled tomatoes 1 or 2 at a time and lower them into the hot oil mixture. Flip the spoon over and smash the tomatoes to help break them down.
Step 5. Add 1 of the whole fresh basil sprigs and bring mixture to a boil. Leave the sprig whole so you can easily remove it later. This sprig of basil is being used to infuse flavor only. We will use the other sprig for color and final flavor boost once the marinara is finished cooking.
Step 6. Once boiling, lower temperature and Simmer over Low Heat for 30-45 minutes, until the tomatoes are completely broken down and the sauce has thickened. Continue to stir the marinara sauce as it cooks to reduce splattering and further break down the tomatoes.
Step 7. Discard the basil sprig and tear remaining basil leaves from the 2nd sprig into the marinara sauce. This delicious marinara sauce recipe isn't so difficult after all, eh?
If you are worried about burning the garlic in this recipe, you can add whole crushed cloves instead of using minced garlic. They will infuse their flavor into the sauce and then can be scooped and removed when you take out the first sprig of basil. However, as long as you don't turn the temperature too high and stir constantly, minced garlic works fine in this recipe. This marinara is not the same as something made over hours tending the stove like your Nonna would probably make you do, but it is a quick and much more simple recipe that gets the job done and still tastes great so give it a try and let me know what you think....Just Keep Cooking!
NOT YOUR NONNA'S MARINARA SAUCE
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