Homemade Marinara Sauce

I love pasta with the homemade marinara sauce I had as a kid.

Bernadette Peters

Childhood Memories

To be honest, I do not have any memories of homemade marinara sauce. Given my Mexican heritage, I’m more familiar with homemade salsa. Although I do have memories of watching TV shows where characters would make marinara sauce.

A favorite memory of mine is watching an episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. Clark is cooking and Lois makes a quip about how their lives being like this forever; Clark cooking, Lois watching. Clark tastes his sauce while Lois steals a sample from the wooden spoon in his hand.

At that moment, I wondered how sauce is made but it wouldn’t be until a decade or more later when I would learn how to make it.

The Sauce

Over the years, I’ve come across several recipes each with their own unique spin on how to make sauce. But the one I’ve come to rely on, has been the simplest.

The Ingredients

• 1 can of Cento San Marzano tomatoes (28oz)
• 1/2 of small yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon of basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

Directions

1. Finely dice 1/2 of a small yellow onion
2. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a sauce pan and add your onions
3. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until golden brown
4. Add 1 teaspoon of salt
5. Add 3 cloves of minced garlic and stir until fragrant (about 1 minute)
6. Pour 1 can of San Marzano tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of pepper and oregano
7. Simmer for 15 minutes and once off the heat, add your chopped basil

This recipe makes about 3 cups and can be stored in a mason pint jar for about a week.