I grew up thinking that all pasta sauces (macaroni gravy) were red, and, except for tuna sauce we had on Friday’s, there was always meat in it. Even at the Italian restaurants we frequented, all the sauces were red. Most of the immigrants that came to the US at the turn of the century and afterward came from southern Italy where the sauces were tomato based. The restaurants that opened throughout the US were owned by these Southern Italians and they brought there regional cooking recipes with them and subsequently the sauces were red.
It was until college that I found out that there were many Italian sauces that were NOT red, but white and green and yellow. These pasta sauces were more northern and it wasn’t until the 1960’s when more northern Italian regional restaurants opened that I was introduced to these sauces. (Can’t call them gravies because they are NOT red).
Unlike the previous sauce I gave you (Sunday Gravy), there are sauces that do not require hours of simmering and many steps to achieve that. Many can be complete in 15 minutes. I once did a class entitled “WHAT TO DO WHILE THE PASTA BOILS” wherein it took longer for the pasta to cook than the preparation of the sauce. I will be presenting a series of them to you. The first of which is your basic Marinara sauce. It's so simple to prepare and ready in less than 15 minutes. Don't season it too much. You will be pleasantly surprised how good it really is, albeit, easy.
Unless your well versed in preparing fresh tomatoes for cooking, I highly recommended buying canned tomato products. Don’t skimp on the brand you use. Many of the “generic” brands and/or store brands use inferior tomatoes. Spend the extra money for the better brands and you won’t regret it. I like Red Gold or 6 in 1. Red Gold is sold in most grocery stores. 6 in 1 is found in specialty stores.
As always, please leave your comments at the end of the post.
Marinara Sauce
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh basil
Heat olive oil in a skillet at medium high
Saute garlic until sizzling. Do not overcook.
Add canned crushed tomatoes and lower heat
Add salt and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
Serve over your favorite pasta with freshly chopped basil. I like Penne for this sauce
Enjoy.
