Slow Simmered Homemade Marinara

Marinara sauce is a useful pantry staple. I honestly always used the jarred stuff, but recently my dad brought home 3 pounds of tomatoes and couldn’t figure out what to do with it! I have a dad that loves to buy things in excess “just in case we need it”. Eventually, I come up with hacks like these to use up the excess.

If you find yourself with an excess amount of tomatoes I highly recommend making this marinara sauce. Alternatively the best usage of extra tomatoes in my opinion is a paneer gravy. I make a bunch of house gravy like the one from my Paneer Butter Masala recipe, and use it a gazillion different ways. You can eat it plain with rice, throw in some mixed veggies or assorted proteins and eat it with roti. The possibilities are endless!

This recipe is a little time consuming if you want the full flavor of the marinara. If you don’t want to let it simmer forever you can add in some extra flavor notes just to help it along. I would also increase the amount of tomato paste. This makes a great dipping sauce for breadsticks, or perfect in a pasta bake! My only recommendation is to just take your time and enjoy the process. If you have parmesan rinds feel free to throw those in as well. I chose to leave this recipe vegan for all of our plant based friends!

Method

On medium heat, start by cooking down the chili flakes in the olive oil until the oil changes color, you’re looking for a rusty red. Add onions and garlic and occasionally stir. Get it cooked down to the point where the onions have taken on a lot of the oil’s color.

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You want to really cook down the onions in this step. Let these go for at least 15-20 minutes you don’t want to miss the opportunity to build flavor.

Add the tomato paste and cook down for 10 minutes. You want the tomato paste to really deepen in color. I like to cook it down to the point where its sticking to the bottom and you’re getting browned bits at the bottom.

Add in tomatoes and cover. Stir occasionally over the course of 30 minutes. You want the tomatoes to really release their water and melt in with all of the other flavors. As you mix the tomatoes, scrape the bottom of the pan to lift up the brown bits. Using an immersion blender or cool the mixture and blend in a stationary blender until you have a smooth sauce. Add the balsamic vinegar, Italian seasoning, salt, sugar, and black pepper to taste. Continue to simmer for another 1-2 hours. You can optionally finish it with some butter!