Weeknight Marinara
Weeknight Marinara
Once you try this recipe, you'll never have to buy jarred marinara again. This sauce is quick, easy and so tasty. Pair it with you favorite pasta, chicken or shrimp. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and everyone's happy.
Ingredients
- 1 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes Cento San Marzano or Red Gold
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic more or less to taste
- 3/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes optional
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
- Pick your tomatoes. Cento San Marzano tomatoes are far and away my favorite for marinara. They have fabulous, rich tomato flavor that make them great for sauce. Red Gold are my second choice. I find both in my local grocery store
- Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and use your hands to crush them into small pieces
- Chop the garlic finely - I prefer chopping the garlic rather than using a garlic press for this recipe
- Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic, oregano and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook for 30 seconds - be careful not to burn the garlic. If you do (and we all have) throw it out and start over otherwise, the sauce will have a burnt flavor
- Add the tomatoes and salt to the pan and stir. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings as needed. If it tastes flat - add a bit more salt, bland - a pinch of red pepper, acidic - a 1/2 tsp sugar. Cook for 10 minutes more
- Meanwhile - cook the pasta according to the package directions and reserve a cup of the pasta water before draining. My favorite gluten free pasta is Tinkyàda brand, found at large grocery stores, Whole Foods and local co-ops
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan of hot sauce and stir to combine. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water
- Serve with a sprinkle of grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!
It is the San Marzano tomatoes that add all that flavor. Cento also offers other canned ones that aren’t the certified San Marzano ones.
Target has the best price on them, a bit higher at Trader Joes and then much more expensive at all the other places.
For a fabulous jar marinara, I suggest the Mario Battali San Marzano sauce- at Costco of course!
Thanks, Peg! I’m glad to know Target has the best price. I’ve found them at Cub and Trader Joe’s. I’ll hit up Target this week!
I’ve been looking forward to this post. I really laughed because I have four cans of the tomatoes on my shelf in the new panty. With one exception, this is the same recipe I use from scratch taught to me by a best friend with whom I cooked many a Sunday or on vacation. I miss her terribly. The difference? We would make large batches and depending on our whim add red wine and a small amount of tomato paste. The biggest difference was that it wold cook for five hours on the stove, scraping the sides and adding more liquid if it really reduced too much. As for brands, we also used Redpack (not sure you have that available) if we couldn’t get the special Cento. She also used a different tomato if the sauce was going over seafood…Tuttorosso. It definitely has a lighter taste. As for meat gravies, bracciole and hot and red sausages were used to smooth out the flavor. Enough! If I hadn’t had chicken meatballs and rigatoni last night, I’d be making a sauce today!