Marinara sauce is a versatile yet yummy sauce that can be used for everything from the foundation of pizzas and calzones to a succulent dipping sauce for garlic bread. With many of its ingredients found in a common kitchen, making a delicious marinara sauce isn’t difficult, either. With the large quantity made by the following recipe, it’s easy to plan to use some now and freeze the rest for future dishes.

 Marinara Sauce

Yield: 9 Quarts

Ingredients

1 Large       Onion, small dice

4 oz.            Oil (2 oz. canola oil/2 oz. extra virgin olive oil)

¾ C            Garlic, minced

2 Tbsp.       Red pepper, crushed

1 C               Tomato Paste

1½ C          White Wine

1 – 10 lb. Can       Ground Tomatoes

1 – 10 lb. Can       San Marzano Tomatoes

2 Tbsp.        Oregano, dried

2 Tbsp.        Granulated garlic powder

2 Tbsp.        Granulated onion powder

½ Tbsp.       Basil, dried

2 Bunch       Basil, fresh, chiffonade

¼ C              Granulated sugar

To Taste      Salt and pepper

As Needed   Cornstarch slurry

Method of Preparation

1. Gather all ingredients and equipment.
2. In a large stockpot, sauté onion in oil until translucent (without any color). Once onions are soft, add in garlic and crushed red pepper.
3. Add tomato paste and incorporate it well.
4. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by half.
5. Add 2 cans of tomatoes, including the liquid when cleaning out the cans, and continue to cook until warm throughout.
6. Once simmering, add in oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil and granulated sugar.
7. Stir in fresh chiffonade basil.
8. Season well with salt and pepper. Finish with a little cornstarch slurry.

Chef’s Notes:

This recipe is simple and yet very flavorful. It is important to sweat the onions and to not caramelize them, otherwise your sauce will come out sweeter than usual. Once adding in the garlic and red pepper, deglaze with white wine within 30 seconds as to not caramelize the garlic either. The tomatoes are San Marzano and crushed whole tomatoes, each come in 10 pound cans.

As the sauce comes to a simmer, season with spices. I personally use a little bit of a cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water) to slightly thicken the sauce so it’s not watery.

The final step is to add a bunch of basil to the sauce and cool it down unless you use immediately in the dish.

Bon appétit!