Marinara Sauce

Today I am going to share one of my favorite basic recipes, Marinara Sauce. Above you can see a lovely stuffed pasta shell modeling cream sauce and Marinara Sauce. Just as an aside, the shells hadn't been baked yet and we ate them before I remembered to take a picture when they were done. Sorry, you'll have to use your imagination.

Back to the Marinara Sauce. I adapted the recipe from a book called The Family Kitchen that I checked out from the library a hundred years ago. The sauce is very flavorful and not to herby so it can go in many other dishes. Of course, you can serve it as is over pasta for a quick and delicious dinner, but it's also great in Lasagna, any stuffed pasta, with meatballs or anything, even as pizza sauce. Turn on your Italian music and let's get going!

Marinara Sauce

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

1 small onion, diced finely

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

2 teaspoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon oregano

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/8 teaspoon pepper flakes

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon parmesan cheese

Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and saute for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, oregano, black pepper and pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the butter and cheese. Use the sauce then or refrigerate and use in a recipe later. I sometimes make a double batch and use part then and freeze the other part. It's so easy to make a lasagna when you have a good red sauce already done. Hope you enjoy this!