This is the best recipe I know for marinara sauce. It’s my grandmother’s recipe. Makes 8 cups.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped (about 1 cup)
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped (about 1 cup)
4 large garlic cloves, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
4 pints home-canned tomato puree without seeds (or imported Italian seedless whole tomatoes in water that has been blended to a puree)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
Directions
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots and garlic. Cook until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, and cook for 15 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling. Do not boil it hard. Turn down the heat if you have to.
Push the hot sauce through a food mill for a very smooth sauce, or, if you have one of these nifty things, puree the vegetables with an immersion blender.
Return the sauce to the heat, add the herbs and seasoning, and cook for another 15 minutes until you can smell the herbs perfuming the sauce. Add the butter; stir in until it is melted, and serve. The sauce freezes well.
