Never Buy Pasta Sauce Again! Part 2 - The Sauce Showdown Winner

As promised, here is the second installment of my homemade marinara sauce recipes.  As I mentioned in Part 1, this recipe is my edited version of my mom's marinara sauce recipe.  I could never get it to come out as well as hers did, so I figured I would take some liberties and make it my own.  This sauce is a smoother one, lacking the chunks of tomato found in the previous recipe.  While the other recipe can be made in a relatively short amount of time, I prefer to let this recipe simmer for a few hours.  While it's not absolutely necessary, I feel like it allows the flavors to meld together more, and just brings a warm, delicious aroma to the house that I can't bring myself to skip.  One of my favorite memories is of coming home from school and walking in the door to be greeted with the smell of homemade sauce simmering on the stove.  Who would want to eliminate that element of their cooking?!

I also have to note that I have a retraction from my Part 1 post.  After tasting this sauce and being asked to compare it to the sauce from Part 1, Ryan caved and declared this version the sauce showdown winner!  So, if you're looking for a sauce recipe, the consensus in my house is that you should go with this version. Anyway, you'll see that this recipes is VERY similar to Part 1.  However, the ingredients are sent through the blender first to produce a smooth sauce.  Again, this recipe lacks the sugar added to most store-bought brands, so it is much less sweet than jarred versions, but is much more fresh tasting!

 
 
The sauce is not actually such an awful orange color.  That is the product of me not being able to turn off the flash on my husband's phone.  It's the same incompetency that leads to my cat looking like Satan in EVERY PICTURE EVER.

 

Momma's Homemade Marinara Sauce

Makes approx. 4 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 medium onion, roughly chopped

2 large garlic gloves, roughly chopped

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 8 ounce can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Process:

1. In a blender, combine the onion, garlic, and crushed tomatoes (I prefer a blender over a food processor for this job).  Blend until smooth.  If you prefer larger pieces of onion or garlic in your sauce, feel free to simply mince them on your own and only blend the tomatoes. 
2. Put the tomato, onion, and garlic mixture into a heavy bottomed pot.  Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, olive oil, bay leaf, basil, and oregano.  Stir to combine.
3. Bring the sauce to a low boil and then turn heat down to low.  Taste and add salt and pepper as desired.
4. Allow the sauce to simmer (do not allow it to bubble or it will burn) for about 3 hours.  For a larger pot of sauce, extend the simmering time.  Stir periodically, and adjust seasonings as needed.
5. If you find the sauce too thick, add in some water a little at a time until it is the desired consistency.
6. Extra: good luck goes to whoever spoons the bay leaf onto their plate!

 Ryan's rating of Momma's Homemade Marinara Sauce - 5 (but somehow a higher 5 than the last batch of sauce...I don't know, ask him how that works).

1 - Awful. If you make this again I'll shove a fork in my eye.

2 - Meh. It's not my favorite, but I won't threaten self-harm if it shows up again.

3 - Good. I wouldn't feel forced to order a pizza behind your back. 

4 - Great! I will fight you for the leftovers.

5 - Love it! Make it again tomorrow. Or immediately and I will bathe in it.

Comments

[Jeanne]

Glad Ryan's a convert. I could smell the sauce through my computer on this one. When I read part 1 and saw the short simmering time, I couldn't wait to see how long you recommended for this part 2 version- much better. YES! Love this recipe.
P.S. Nice picture of the fluff.

[Kate]

i'm headed to make fresh tomato sauce from the tomatoes in my garden. I'm going to freeze it for the winter!! Thinking of you!

[Jenny Miller]

Okay...your cousin is going to attempt to make her own sauce (this recipe) for the first time ever. Time has been my enemy but not today, I'm determined. My boys LOVE anything with pasta sauce so here's to hoping they prefer the real deal over the store bought crap...

[Sue]

Thats great, Jenny!  I hope you like it. I love making a huge batch when I have time and freezing it so I have sauce for weeks!