If you were expecting this recipe as our #9 offering, I was thinking Holidays and the need to feed a crowd. Instead of giving you the recipe for Marinara Sauce from Scratch, as promised in Feeding The Temple #8, “A Quickie Trip To Italy,” the recipe you found was for Chili. We’ll make up for that oversight now with this tried and true recipe that you’ll find simply delish.

Please don’t be put off by the number of ingredients! The prep time is merely 15 minutes. The cook time, however, is where the “scratch” part comes in…3 to 4 hours. And add an overnight flavor melding in the refrigerator after cool down.

Ingredients

1/2 cup vegetable or chicken broth

1 large onion, chopped

1 Tablespoon garlic, minced or 2 teaspoons garlic powder (adjust to taste)

2 Tablespoons mixed dry Italian seasonings, crushed in your palm

1 Tablespoon oregano leaves, crushed in your palm

2 teaspoons thyme leaves, crushed in your palm

2 Tablespoons chicken bouillon granules or 1 heaping Tablespoon chicken paste

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes, optional

3 cans (16 oz. ea.) Italian plum tomatoes, broken up, with juice

2 bay leaves (do not break)

2 cans 6 oz. ea.) tomato paste

1 cup water

2 cans (15 oz. ea.) tomato sauce or purée (for thicker sauce, use purée)

1 to 2 teaspoons sugar

 

Instructions

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in the broth with the seasonings until the onions are tender.

2. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves; cook on medium heat, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

3. Add the tomato paste and the rest of the ingredients; simmer on low, partially covered, for 3 to 4 hours.

4. Remove the bay leaves.

5. If the sauce seems a bit thick for your taste, add water until the consistency you prefer. Stir well.

6. Allow the sauce to cool and then refrigerate overnight to give the flavors time to marry.

Just as pointed out previously, pasta sauce will serve you well for one meal and always tastes better after a day in the fridge…so always think of cooking ahead. This is a wonderful dish for keeping in the fridge for a few days or freezing. If you prepare enough for 2, or more, meals, different add-on veggies and protein will change it up.

When freezing, there are 2 different techniques. Either place enough sauce for one meal in individual plastic containers, which can be thawed in the microwave before adding the veggies or protein as a change-up to the dish, or the same quantity may be placed in a gallon sized freezer bag. Always fold the top of the bag, the “zipper” end down, over itself, so that sauce does not get all over the exterior mouth of the bag. When about half-full, zip up the mouth except for a small opening, from which you will ease out the air for a solid freeze. After expelling the air and sealing shut, flatten out the sauce so that you can handle it more easily when thawing.

Later, when you’re ready to use, squeeze out the solid, frozen, sauce into a microwaveable bowl to heat. I recommend getting the sauce softened in the microwave before the extras, such as veggies or protein, are added in a large pot on the stove. Another way to approach this is to prepare the veggies and/or protein in broth in a pot and then add them to sauce for a final microwave to heat through and meld the flavors.

Check back to the recipe in #8 for the instructions on the pasta.

Buon Appetito!!!!