Marinara sauce is without question, the most famous and well-distributed pasta sauce found throughout the world. I mean it’s so pervasive that I can’t think of one Italian restaurant that doesn’t serve marinara sauce in at least a couple of its dishes. However, despite all of the love that we as a society shower on marinara sauce, the truth is that we are all talking about a number of different sauces. In fact, there is an old saying which states that there are as many different ways to make marinara sauce as there are Italian families. And having known a couple of Italian families in my life I can say that those old words of wisdom are closer to the truth than most people think. That’s why today I would like to share with you one of these family recipes, all thanks to my good friend Tony Nanci.
Now obviously, the Nanci family recipe for marinara sauce is fairly similar to most marinara sauces. It includes tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, and basil, all of which are slowly simmered for an hour so that the flavors of the sauce can become rich. However, it does have two ingredients that might seem a little unusual at first, carrots, and black pepper.
I know, I know, you are probably reading this thinking that I’m crazy because carrots and black pepper are two ingredients that most people would normally never associate with marinara sauce, but bear with me.
First, the use of black pepper simply allows the sauce to have a little kick without feeling like it’s something completely different. That’s all, and to be honest, it’s not really the key to the sauce, so if you are still a little hesitant about it, then skip it for now. The carrot, on the other hand, is key for this marinara sauce. This is because carrots have natural sugars that are released into the sauce while cooking helping to balance out the acids found in the tomatoes. Now, normally you would solve this issue with regular granulated sugar, but if carrots can do the same job, and be healthier then why not use them instead?
Ok, so that should be about it, but before we jump into the recipe I would like to give one last shout out to the Nanci family and thank them for allowing me to share this recipe with you folks today. I would also like to say that the Nancis have been making great Italian food for generations. In fact, they still run the best Italian deli in Temecula, CA, called Campini’s. So if you are ever in the area I highly recommend you try them out.
Tony’s Marinara Sauce Recipe
Prep time: 2 to 5 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes to an hour
Servings: 2 quarts of sauce
Ingredients
2 28oz. Cans of whole peeled tomatoes
1 Medium carrot (minced)
1 Small onion (finely diced)
6 Cloves of garlic minced
5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
½ Tablespoon of dried oregano (optional)
1 Teaspoon of black pepper (optional)
One bunch of fresh basil
Salt to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion, carrot, and garlic: Get out a large pot and add the 5 tablespoons of olive oil to it. Then place this pot on your stove, over medium-high heat. Once the pot has heated up for a minute toss in the onion, and carrot, sauteing them for about 3 minutes, or until the onion begins to become translucent. Finally, add in the minced garlic, and saute everything for another minute.
- Add the tomatoes: Toss in the cans of tomatoes along with the oregano, the black pepper, and a half cup of water. Stir everything together and let it come to a boil. Once the sauce has come to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low, and allow everything to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Mash or blend the sauce: Now depending on how chunky or smooth you prefer your sauce you can approach this next step in two ways. If you prefer a more rustic and chunky sauce then you can use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes until they are in small pieces. However, if you prefer a cleaner, and smoother sauce then you can blend it. Either way is great it all just depends on your preference.
- Store the sauce: Get out 2 quart sized jars, and make sure that they are clean and sanitized. Then take about 5 to 7 basil leaves and rip them up into smaller shreds, and then distribute them amongst the two empty jars.
Next, pour the hot sauce over the basil in the jars (the residual heat of the sauce should cause the oils of the basil to distribute its flavor). Finally, close the jars, and store them in your refrigerator.
- Use & enjoy
Tony’s Marinara Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 28 oz. Cans of whole peeled tomatoes
- 1 Medium carrot minced
- 1 Small onion finely diced
- 6 Cloves of garlic minced
- 5 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- ½ Tablespoon of dried oregano optional
- 1 Teaspoon of black pepper optional
- One bunch of fresh basil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion, carrot, and garlic: Get out a large pot and add the 5 tablespoons of olive oil to it. Then place this pot on your stove, over a medium high heat. Once the pot has heated up for a minute toss in the onion, and carrot, sauteing them for about 3 minutes, or until the onion begins to become translucent. Finally add in the minced garlic, and saute everything for another minute.
- Add the tomatoes: Toss in the cans of tomatoes along with the oregano, the black pepper, and a half cup of water. Stir everything together and let it come to a boil. Once the sauce has come to a boil, lower the heat to medium low, and allow everything to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Mash or blend the sauce: Now depending on how chunky or smooth you prefer your sauce you can approach this next step in two ways. If you prefer a more rustic and chunky sauce then you can use a potato masher to mash the tomatoes until they are in small pieces. However, if you prefer a cleaner, and smoother sauce then you can blend it. Either way is great it all just depends on your preference.
- Store the sauce: Get out 2 quart sized jars, and make sure that they are clean and sanitized. Then take about 5 to 7 basil leaves and rip them up into smaller shreds, and then distribute them amongst the two empty jars. Next pour the hot sauce over the basil in the jars (the residual heat of the sauce should cause the oils of the basil to distribute its flavor). Finally close the jars, and store them in your refrigerator.
This sauce goes great with our orecchiette with crookneck squash recipe
Inspiration from other blogs
From Spend With Pennies
From Dinner Then Dessert
Love this one.