Marinara Sauce

As we approach Garden Season, I have this maniacal intention of planting four different kinds of tomatoes in our tiny yard.  Plus green beans.  Plus herbs.  Oh and you can't forget about the raspberries.  Anyway, if all goes well, we should be DROWNING in tomatoes within a few months.  I'm sure when that time comes I'll question my sanity.  Until I reach that point though, I'm having fun and keeping my eye out for different tomato recipes.

Does it get any more tomato-y than marinara sauce?  Here's one that I can use one of my favorite ways to cook tomatoes, and I think this will be my new go-to sauce.

Marinara Sauce
Recipe adapted from my mom

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 cups tomatoes, seeded, peeled, and chopped, OR 1 (32oz) can Italian plum tomatoes
2 tbsp fresh basil OR 1 tsp-ish dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
6 oz red wine
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat a large pot over medium-high heat; add oil.  Saute the onion and garlic until softened.

2.  Add the tomatoes and crush with a wooden spoon.  Add basil, salt, pepper, sugar, tomato paste, and red wine.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, covered.

The best part about sauces is not needing to measure exactly.

3.  Taste the sauce to adjust the seasonings if necessary.  Also, if you have someone in your family who doesn't care for visible tomato, onion, and/or garlic chunks in their sauce, you can puree it using a blender, food processor, or immersion blender at this time.

My finicky 4 year-old would not like the chunks.  Hello immersion blender!

4.  Add Parmesan cheese and mix thoroughly.  Simmer another 10 minutes.

Love that the cheese is mixed in.

I L.O.V.E.D the flavor of this sauce!!  And even though I blended this to get rid of the chunks (no way Gavin would have eaten it otherwise), it would be fantastic left as is with it's golden garlic disks and lovely onion strands.  In some ways, it tasted like a marinara I might get at the store, but with 1,000% more flavor!

Rest assured I'll be making this again, in spades, to can and enjoy all winter long!!  Not only is this yummy on simple pasta, this would be totally awesome in casseroles, as a pizza sauce or dip, or any way you like to use marinara sauce.