EASY ITALIAN MARINARA SAUCE RECIPE

Here is a great recipe for marinara sauce using canned tomatoes. This marinara sauce is delicious over your favorite pasta, on top of pizza and over mussels and shrimp. The beauty of this sauce is that it can be used with a number of other recipes, so it's a great starting point in Italian Cooking and it is very easy to make.

You can use either fresh or canned plum tomatoes for this recipe, however using fresh tomatoes requires more time and preparation, so I prefer to use canned. If you do plan on using fresh tomatoes, make certain the tomatoes are ripe and in season.

For the canned tomatoes, I prefer Rienzi brand tomatoes. I have tried a number of different brands of canned tomatoes and Rienzi has the best flavor amongst the supermarket brands, in my opinion.

Marinara Sauce Ingredients:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (More or less depending on how much you like garlic)

1 35 ounce can of whole plum tomatoes with liquid

Salt to taste

Crushed red pepper to taste (You can use black pepper if you wish)

10 - 12 fresh basil leaves , torn

1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano

Directions:

1) Open your can of tomatoes and crush them by hand into a bowl and set aside.

2) Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add your garlic to the oil and cook until soft and lightly browned. Be sure to watch the garlic to make sure it doesn't burn.

4) Carefully add the tomatoes along with their liquid into the pan with the garlic and oil. Use caution when adding the tomatoes to the hot oil. The oil can splatter. Add the oregano.

5) Stir the mixture and bring to a boil. Season with a bit of salt and red or black pepper. Lower the heat so that the sauce is reduced to a simmer. Break up the tomatoes as it cooks with a spoon until your sauce is chunky. You want the sauce to simmer until thickened, about 20 - 25 minutes.

6) Add your fresh basil a few minutes before the sauce is done. Taste the sauce and add more salt or pepper if needed.

7) Serve over your favorite pasta. �