Marinara Heaven

So... today's post is devoted to the marinara sauce I experimented with this weekend... which I consider to be excellent, not only because *I* liked it, but because the love of my life, who utterly DESPISES red sauces, loved it.

Now... I'm the sort of cook who cooks sort of by instinct.  I can follow a recipe without problems, but after the first time, I feel my way through it and improve it.  And when I'm making it up on my own, all bets are off.

The problem with this is... I don't really measure things.  That tends to make documentation a bit difficult.  But here we go anyway with my closest guess-timation of what I did.

The Sauce:

Ingredients:

1 half a large onion, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh garlic (I used the pre-chopped stuff you can get in jars)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 large (32 ounce) cans of "Cento" brand tomato puree
2 small (8 ounce) cans dole "Petite diced" tomatoes, well drained
2 -3 tablespoons dried parsley
2 -3 tablespoons dried basil
1-2 tablespoons dried oregano
a few grinds of fresh black pepper
kosher salt to taste
a few shakes of "franks red hot sauce" (optional)
3-5 bay leaves

Instructions:

In a large pot (big enough to hold all the ingredients in the end), saute your onion and garlic in the olive oil with a sprinkle of kosher salt and pepper until the onions are translucent.  Be careful with your garlic, it's okay if it gets slightly browned but don't let it burn.

When the onions are translucent, pour in your tomato puree and drained diced tomatoes.  Stir well and bring up to a simmer.  Keep your temp at JUST a simmer.  Add the dried parsley, oregano and basil.  You also want to add just a bit of salt at this point... maybe a tablespoon at most.  And while I didn't list this ingredient as it isn't necessary, I also added about a tablespoon of garlic powder because I love the flavor of garlic.  Now add 3-5 bay leaves (based on the size of the leaves... more if they're small, fewer if they're large) and walk away from it.

You don't want to do ANYTHING but stir it occasionally for the next 1-2 hours.  Make sure it stays just at a simmer, and stir it to be sure it doesn't start to stick or burn.

After 1-2 hours, the sauce should have reduced by about a third.  This is when you want to taste and adjust.  See if it needs a little more salt or garlic.  If it's bitter, add a teaspoon or two of sugar.  If it's too acidic, add a couple pinches of baking soda.  If you like just a little heat, give it 5 or 6 shakes of Frank's red hot.  After adjusting, let it simmer another 20 minutes or so and you're done :)

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the meatballs I made, also from scratch, to marry with this sauce and pour over linguine.