Marinara Sauce

Last year, the tomatoes in our garden struggled. Our cherry tomatoes did great, but our big tomatoes all grew but stayed green all summer. We didn't start getting tomatoes until nearly November. In fact, I just picked them green and let them ripen on my counter.

Not this year. This year our tomatoes have rocked. I have been making salsa and marinara sauce and just eating them. It has been great. This summer has also helped me realize me NEED for an immersion blender. In the past, I have always just dumped some into my Blendtec and blended it, poured that into a bowl, and repeated until everything was blended. Not now. Never again. My world is changed. Unfortunately, my husband doesn't want one my kitchen gadget in our already overstuffed, tiny kitchen. So I may have to keep borrowing my neighbor's until Christmas when that is all I will ask for from Santa Claus...

Anyway, back to the sauce. This is a super easy recipe. It takes time, because that is what makes it tasty. Luckily, you can let it simmer for 90 minutes - 2 hours and go do something else. It is also a little bit spicy. So if you don't want spicy sauce, leave out the red pepper flakes. This also makes a LOT of sauce. So you can easily half or quarter it for a smaller batch.

(My sous chef. He discovered the can opener this day and played with it for over an hour. Small blessings.)

Ingredients

12 large cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 yellow onion, finely diced

4 T olive oil

4 T fresh oregano or 4 tsp (1 T + 1 tsp) dried oregano

30 Roma tomatoes, chopped

Fresh Basil, a lot (I used an entire plant and still added some dried basil)

1-2 tsp maple syrup or agave nectar

1 T balsamic vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Warm oil over medium heat in large stock pot. Add garlic, onion, and saute over medium low heat

2. Chop tomatoes, oregano, and basil and add to sauce pan. Add syrup/nectar, balsamic vinegar, and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine, cover and simmer 90 minutes.

3. Using an immersion or high power blender, blend until almost smooth (I like some chunks in mine)

4. Salt and pepper to taste

5. ENJOY

The final product. There were 5 jars, but I gave one to my neighbor who let me borrow her immersion blender.

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