Hello and happy fall!

If you read my blog you already know this—I’m Italian, and I love pasta. While I’ve been making my own homemade noodles for about a year, I’ve been hesitating on the sauce. Who wants that mess? You have to peel tomatoes and the juice splashes everywhere, etc. The list goes on. Or so I thought. Turns out I was wrong. Yes, it can be messy to make your own sauce, but it’s not that bad and it’s totally worth it. I never should have hesitated. I now LOVE making my own Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil.

Not only is it way healthier to eat, but it makes your entire home smell amazing and it tastes so much better than that stuff from the jar. There is nothing better than the mix of fresh-snipped basil and ripe tomatoes with a splash of olive oil. There is a reason pasta marinara is a household staple, and it’s not just because it’s a cheap, quick fix. It’s really good, too. Pasta marinara is so simple, yet when you get a realllllly good noodle with an impeccable sauce, there’s just nothing better for a crisp, cool night!

My garden has been producing an overwhelming amount of tomatoes so my partner and I are hurrying to make sure none of our homegrown tomatoes go to waste. With a half dozen jars of salsa under our belt, we moved onto canning the following marinara sauce recipe.

Go ahead and give it a try. Let me know what you think!

Cheers and happy eating!

Jocelyn

* Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. As always, all opinions are my own!

Simple Homemade Marinara Sauce with Garlic & Basil

Time

Prep Time: 10 minutes — Cook Time: 40 minutes

Servings

~32 ounces

Ingredients 5 pounds fresh tomatoes (~30 tomatoes of various size)

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

6 large garlic cloves, finely minced

1 cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

1 sprig fresh thyme, removed from the stem

1 sprig fresh oregano, removed from the stem

1 teaspoon coarsely ground salt

Pepper, red pepper, and extra garlic, to taste Directions Prepare the tomatoes: Cut a small x on the side of each tomato and drop then one by one into boiling water for ~10 seconds. Immediately remove the tomatoes and place them in an ice bath. The skin should easily peel off. I also then remove the core of the tomato with a small knife, or interestingly enough, a lemon juice tool. There is no need to “seed.” Prepare the infused olive oil: Pour the extra virgin olive oil into a medium – large stockpot on medium heat. Add diced onion and garlic. Sauté until onions are translucent and beginning to caramelize (about 6 minutes). Add the chopped basil leaves, oregano, and thyme. Sauté a few more minutes. Remove the pot from the stove and strain the olive oil. Remove the bits and pieces, put the oil back in the stockpot, and add the tomatoes. Simmer your sauce over low heat for 45 minutes while stirring occasionally. Add salt, pepper, and other seasonings, and taste as you go. The sauce should ‘cook down’ and begin to look a bit darker. Enjoy immediately over your favorite pasta, store in the fridge up to one week, or can it accordingly. Mangia! Mangia!