Perfect marinara sauce

Here’s a blast from the past for you: my second-ever blog entry. Cute, right? When I first started this thing almost two years ago, I had no idea what I was doing with it. If anything, I figured it’d be my food diary, a place where I'd record my daily noshings as well as my random thoughts, ideas, or curiosities about food. Within a few short months, I’d begun posting recipes with step-by-step photos accompanying the instructions, interspersed with posts about eating out or road tripping. It evolved very organically (no pun intended), and though it’s become so much more than I expected initially, I’m nothing but proud of how far I’ve come and how much I’ve grown as a home cook, vegan, and food blogger in general.

Anyway, back to that second entry. In it, I mentioned growing up eating Ragu Old World Style marinara sauce on all my [nutrient-stripped white] pasta. During and after college, I tried every other jarred marinara on the market, and cooked dozens of my own, but none of them satisfied me like smooth, salty, overprocessed Ragu. Thankfully, I’ve come a long way since I wrote that post, and haven’t cracked open a jar of Ragu in well over a year. Despite numerous hopeful attempts, however, I had yet to find a suitably flavorful, yet fast and easy, recipe for homemade marinara—until now. This sweet, herby, garlicky sauce is a mélange of so many other recipes and techniques that I can only call it my own. So without further ado, I present to you...my quick-and-perfect marinara sauce.

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, roughly chopped
10-12 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
2 28-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 6-oz. can tomato paste
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic cloves and sauté, stirring often, until softened (about 6-8 minutes). They should be golden and translucent, but not browned. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor.



Add all remaining ingredients except the parsley. (Variation: if you have an open bottle, try replacing the balsamic vinegar with 1/4 cup of fruity red wine!)



Purée until smooth. Add the parsley and pulse until just incorporated. Taste for seasoning, and if the sauce seems a little acidic, feel free to add a tablespoon of agave nectar.



Perfetta! Use immediately, or transfer to a large container and refrigerate for up to a week, or freeze for up to 2 months. Ladle it over any kind of pasta, put it in lasagna, or just use it as a dip for crusty bread. Better yet, make a batch this weekend, stick it in the fridge, and then check back here Monday for the perfect dish to serve it with!



Yield: Half gallon (12 servings). Per serving (about 2/3 cup): 92 calories, 2.8g fat (trace sat), 16.5g carbs, 4g fiber, 3.3g protein.

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Rotini with walnut sauce (×2)
Spaghetti with raw tomato sauce
Tofu parmigiana alla marinara