Recipe for My Grandmother's Marinara Sauce

To my faithful readers who have been patient with me, I'll finally explain why I took a long break from blogging. My grandfather recently died and my life has been in a bit of a frenzy with work, love, family, and a funeral. In memory of my grandfather, who loved this tomato sauce recipe so much, I am going to share with you my version of my grandmother's spaghetti sauce.

My grandmother usually used a mixture of stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato puree from a can to make this. However, I have multitudes of fresh tomatoes from my garden to use for this. I have adapted the recipe to call for fresh tomatoes, which was probably the origin of the recipe anyway.

You can use a food mill (pictured right) or tomatoes concasse as explained in my gazpacho recipe to make this. For ideal texture, use both. I chose to essentially juice my tomatoes this time, since most of my harvest was made up of small tomatoes which don't produce much flesh after skinning and de-seeding. The method of getting the tomatoes into the pot is less important than simply reducing the sauce for a long time. It should be very rich, dark, and thick when it's ready.


Grandma's Marinara Sauce

In a large non-aluminum stock pot, saute:

4 Tbsp olive oil  
1 small onion, chopped  
4 cloves garlic

When the onions are starting to brown, add:

2 tsp dry or 1 Tbsp fresh oregano
2 tsp dry or 1/3 cup fresh basil
1 tsp salt (if your tomato liquid is already salted, add less salt)
1/2 tsp black pepper

Saute everything for another minute. Add:

8-10 cups tomatoes concasse and/or juiced tomatoes

Simmer for several hours, stirring every half hour until the sauce thickens and becomes dark and rich. Taste it and adjust seasonings as desired. You can add water at any time if it's too thick. If desired, add some browned meat balls and/or sausage 1/2 hour before you are done cooking. Serve over your favorite gluten-free pasta.