My Favorite Spaghetti With Marinara Sauce

This Recipe For Spaghetti and Marinara Sauce Is Light And Healthy!

For years, whenever I made spaghetti, I made my recipe for spaghetti with meat sauce. But when my daughter Randi was in fourth grade, she started to not like eating meat in general. I realized that I needed to master the art of cooking a really good marinara sauce. It did take quite a bit of experimenting before I hit on really good recipe that my kids really liked. I love the fact that this recipe makes about 4 quarts, because then I can freeze 3 quarts and always have some homemade sauce on hand in the freezer. I use this sauce for my baked ziti, my homemade pizza, for eggplant parmesan, and of course for any type of pasta over marinara sauce. You will be happy and your family will be very happy when you make this, I promise!

for the marinara sauce:

This recipe makes about 4-5 quarts of sauce, so if you wish to make less, just halve each ingredient.

• 3, 4, or 5 28 ounce cans of peeled plum tomatoes in thick puree or tomato juice (I prefer the puree because it makes the sauce a little thicker) - or you may substutute can of good crushed tomatoes (Sclafani is best)
• 1- 8 ounce can of tomato paste
• 1 very large or 2 medium onions
• 6-8 cloves of garlic
• extra virgin, pure, or light olive oil (I use the light)
• kosher salt
• crushed red pepper
• fresh ground black pepper
• scant teaspoon granulated sugar- optional
• herbes de provence- just a sprinkling or about 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme
• freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese for serving

Peel and quarter the onions. Put them in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse the onions until they are almost pureed; they will have the consistency of apple sauce (this adds body and flavor to the sauce without the pieces of onions that many children find objectionable). Then peel the garlic cloves, and crush them using a garlic press. Set the garlic aside. Put about 1/4 cup of olive oil in the bottom of a pretty big and heavy pot over a low to medium flame. Put about 1/2 teaspoon of crushed pepper in the oil. (I’ve been using my Le Creuset dutch oven lately, but for years, I made this sauce in my big Farberware pot, and it came out just as good.) After a minute or so, dump the onions in, and saute them until they are really translucent and soft. Then add the crushed garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Rinse out the bowl and blade of the food processor, and then put all the whole tomatoes in, reserving all the puree or juice. Pulse the tomatoes, until they are quite, but not totally smooth. You want the tomatoes to still have just a little bit of texture to them, but they should not be in large chunks. Dump the tomatoes into the onion and garlic mixture, and add all of the puree from the cans. Then, add the one can of tomato paste.

Add kosher salt to taste, about 2 teaspoons, and some freshly ground pepper, about 8 grinds, put the top on, and simmer over a low to medium flame for about 30-45 minutes. Then, taste the sauce. At this point, I usually add a little less than a teaspoon of sugar, and about 1/4 teaspoon of herbes de provence. If you can’t find herbes de provence, you can substitute an Italian seasoning blend. You may also need to add more salt, and a little more crushed red pepper - if you like your sauce to have a little more heat. Simmer it (cover on) for another 45 min. or an hour over a low flame so that all the flavors can meld with the tomatoes.

to put the whole thing together:

• 1 pound of spaghetti or your favorite pasta
• 3/4 quart, about 28 ounces of marinara sauce
• freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese

Bring 1 large pot of water to a boil. Place pasta in water. Stir around to separate the noodles. Cook according to package directions to your liking. Drain in collander. Then place the pasta back in the pot you cooked it in. (For 1 pound of pasta, add about 3/4 cup of already heated sauce. For 1 1/2 pounds of pasta, you will need 1 quart of sauce.) Then over a low heat, just stir the sauce gently so it coats the pasta. Serve with freshly grated romano or parmesan cheese on the side.

Note: For pasta, I love the brand DeCeco because the pasta really stays al dente even if you cook it a little longer.