minimalist smooth marinara

Everybody needs a basic red sauce recipe in their back pocket, and this is mine.

In order to fit in the proverbial back pocket, the ingredients for this sauce are deliberately sparse, designed to be things everybody has in their pantry and spice drawer. Because I, along with most children under 12, don’t like marinara sauces with any texture but can’t always be bothered to blend it, I use tomato puree instead of crushed tomatoes, onion powder instead of chopped onion, and finely mince the garlic first so that the end product is silky-smooth and chunk-free.

As simple as it is, the practical applications for it are endless. Use it as the base for a bomb mushroom lasagna. Dollop it over panko-crusted chicken to make minimalist chicken parm. Freeze it in little containers and thaw them out as dipping sauce for Trader Joe’s fried mozzarella sticks. I almost never eat pasta plain with marinara, but why not? Just save it in tupperware and stash it in the freezer as an alternative to jarred (to defrost, microwave it for 1 minute and dump the still-frozen brick into a pot, then cover and simmer gently until heated through).

RECIPE

The simplest silky-smooth marinara sauce, slow-simmered with minimal ingredients you can find in the pantry.

Effortful time: 10 minutes

Total time: ~2 hours

Makes about 10 cups of finished sauce

YOU NEED

  • 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 2 tbsp. tomato paste, I use the kind in the tube

  • 1/3 cup white wine (or vodka)

  • 3x 28 oz containers tomato puree

  • 1 tbsp. dried basil

  • 1 tbsp. dried parsley

  • 1 tsp. dried oregano

  • 1 tsp. onion powder

  • Salt and pepper, to taste

  • 1/2 cup water, plus more as needed

MAKE IT

  1. Prep the base. In a 5 qt. Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add 4 cloves of minced garlic and sauté 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the 2 tbsp. of tomato paste and cook 15 seconds more, breaking up with the back of your spoon.

  2. Deglaze with the white wine or vodka.

  3. Build and season the sauce. Immediately pour in all 3 containers of tomato puree; season with 1 tbsp. each of basil and parsley and 1 tsp. each of oregano and onion powder, plus salt and pepper to taste. Add the water and stir.

  4. Simmer the sauce. Partially cover and lower the heat to a minimum simmer. Let this simmer for 2 hours or more. Add more water if it looks dry on top or too thick.

  5. That’s it! Serve with pasta, save in jars in the freezer in various portion sizes, or go ahead and make a lasagna like this one.

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