Marinara with Homegrown Tomatos and Herbs

This year my tomato plants have been plentiful.  So plentiful that Tony and I had to figure out what to do with them since the two of us could never eat that many!  Last year it was tomato soup.  This year Marinara Sauce!

So, we pulled out the good ol' Betty Crocker Cookbook and followed the instructions:

2 cans (28 oz. each) crushed tomatoes with basil, undrained
1 16 oz can tomato paste
1 large onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 Tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano leaves
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp salt.

Stir all ingredients in a 3-quart saucepan until will blended.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat to low.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes to blend flavors.

Use immediately, or cover and refrigerate up to 2 weeks, or freeze up to a year.

Notes:

*  We used fresh tomatoes from our garden that I stewed in the Crockpot over night and cooled in the refrigerator.  Then, when we were putting them in the pot, the skins slid right off.

*  We used a blend of fresh basil and dried basil.  The plants in my garden are not very large so much.

*  We used a lot more garlic, and left out the salt.

*  We added fresh parsley.

*  We added about 1/2 cup of red wine.

*  I forgot to adapt the tomato paste to match the amount of stewed tomatoes, and, therefore, only bought one can.  It probably should've had two following the recipe.

*  We let it cook for about two hours.  You do have to be careful or the bottom will burn.  If this happens, do not scrape it or you will add the burned flavor to the sauce.  Just take out another pot and transfer it to the clean pot.

 

Rating:

We will have to edit this one and let you know.  Tomorrow night's dinner is spaghetti with meat sauce and mushrooms using our marinara.  It smelled like a pizzeria in the house when it was cooking, so I have high hopes.

Cost:

Fortunately, I am able to have a garden and it produces a good amount of food and herbs.  So, any of the fresh herbs and the tomatoes were the by product of a little work and a lot of watering.  Then, as we keep a well stocked kitchen, we had the olive oil, sugar, pepper, and dried herbs.  All in all, this was a pretty cheap dish to make, and it made a lot!
Onion - .69 a pound
Tomato paste:  $1.20

'Til next time!

Sandy