Marinara: The Little Black Dress of Sauces

After a multitude of efforts--including a few missteps--I think I've finally arrived at a Marinara sauce recipe that fits nearly all of my tomato-based sauce needs. Like that little black dress in every woman's closet, it works for nearly every occasion. It's great over pasta and polenta, on homemade pizza, in lasagna and other layered and stuffed pastas, in soups, and has even been known to don a sombrero in a Mexican dish or two.

I began my quest with a basic foundation of garlic, onion, and canned tomatoes. Unfortunately, it always ended up being shallow in flavor a little too acidic. I experimented with adding sugar, but that only made it cloying. I threw in a carrot once, but it didn't do much good. I even borrowed a technique from a friend who learned it from his Italian grandmother: add a pinch of baking soda to your simmering sauce to reduce acidity. Only, it resulted in giving the sauce a slightly tinny taste.

Then, after following a few TV chefs and reading countless other recipes for Marinara, Bolognese, and other similar sauces, I thought I'd try starting with a mirepoix: a French culinary technique using aromatics (usually onion, celery, carrot) as the basis for many traditional sauces, soups, and stews.

I found that caramelizing the mirepoix as the base for my Marinara gave it just the right level of sweetness to counterbalance the acidity of the tomatoes. It also added another layer of flavor that just the garlic and onion weren't accomplishing.

The sauce has served me well in countless dishes, both vegetarian and not. It freezes well, but I cook with it so frequently it almost never makes its way to the freezer drawer. Perhaps one day, I'll find some time to set aside for making multiple batches of sauce and canning it for future use. As it is, though, I make a new batch just about every two weeks, and use it up in slightly less time than that. For your reference, then, here is my recipe:

Marinara Sauce

1/4 c. olive oil

1 large onion, diced

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 large celery stalk (or 2 small stalks), chopped fine

1 medium carrot, chopped fine

1 heaping Tbsp. tomato paste

4 28-oz. cans whole tomatoes (see Note)

1/4 c. chopped, fresh basil (or 2 Tbsp. dried basil)

salt and pepper, to taste

In a large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, celery, and carrot and sautee, stirring frequently, until caramelized. Move vegetables to the outer edges of the pot, and add tomato paste to the center. Allow tomato paste to caramelize slightly before stirring in to the vegetables.

Meanwhile, empty the canned tomatoes with their juice into a large bowl and crush with your hands. Once the vegetables and tomato paste are caramelized in the pot, add the crushed tomatoes with their juice.

Cover partially with lid and allow to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, approximately 30 minutes. Adjust heat to medium-low. Using an immersion blender, puree the sauce to your desired consistency (sauce can also be pureed in batches in a food processor or blender, then returned to the pot). Add basil, and salt and pepper, to taste. Cover partially with lid and continue simmering until thickened, stirring occasionally, approximately 25 minutes.

Use marinara as desired. Makes just over 2 quarts, or about 10 cups.

Note: My canned tomatoes of choice are Muir Glen Organic Whole Peeled Tomatoes in Juice. I have also used diced or crushed tomatoes, but I find that whole tomatoes tend to be more flavorful, as the diced and crushed varieties can get more watered down in the canning liquid.

For a change of pace, I have occasionally used Muir Glen's Organic Wood-fire Smoked Tomatoes, whether whole, diced, or crushed. This gives a smokiness to the sauce, and adds another dimension of flavor, especially in vegetarian applications.