Thee best marinara sauce!

I'm gonna go ahead and keep this one simple. This sauce is delicious. It's garlicky. You should make it. It's a teensy bit fussy, but not too bad. I learned the original recipe while I was briefly working as a kitchen assistant in a fancy, upscale kitchen gadget store, that held cooking classes.

This recipe is adaptable to whatever season you find yourself in. In summer, you can skip the canned, tetrapak, or glass packed* tomatoes all together and just use fresh Roma tomatoes. In winter, just go with canned, tetrapak, or glass packed*. I used a combination of both, because fresh tomatoes are, for some reason, still a little on the pricey side here. Once again, I didn't really measure, just wing it, you'll survive. I promise it will still taste good. :)

Here you go.

Recipe adapted from fancy-upscale-kitchen-gadget-store-cooking-class-recipe. phew.

15-20 fresh organic Roma or San Marzano tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 large cans(or preferably tomatoes in glass or tetrapacks*- read this) organic diced tomatoes (San Marzano if possible)
4-6 cloves organic garlic, minced
10-12 fresh basil leaves, torn into little pieces
2-3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tsp red pepper flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While water is boiling,  fill another large pot or bowl with very cold tap water. 
2. Using a paring knife, lightly cut an "x" in the bottom of each fresh tomato. Drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for 30 seconds to a minute, then transfer to the cold water.
3. Drain tomatoes and water. Place a sieve over a bowl and remove the skins, seeds and any excess juice from the tomatoes. The skins will peel off easily. To remove the seeds and excess juice, I just use my fingers to open up the tomatoes and pull out the seeds. Save the juice and put to the side. Compost the skins and seeds.
4. Chop to tomatoes into small pieces and set aside.

1. Add 1 Tbl of olive oil to a large, deep pan and heat over a medium flame. Add about half the minced garlic and 1 tsp red pepper flakes, saute for about 30 seconds. Add all of the tomatoes to the pan and stir together. Season with salt and pepper.
2. At this point, you can decide if you want a really chunky sauce, a smooth sauce, or something in the middle. If you want a smooth or semi chunky sauce, use an immersion blender and pulse until you achieve the desired consistency. You can also add the sauce to a blender in batches.
3. Allow the sauce to come up to a slow boil, then reduce down to a simmer. You want it to reduce down to a nice thick consistency. Stir often. If sauce over reduces, add the reserved tomato juice and stir.
4. While sauce is simmering, place remaining oil, red pepper flakes, garlic and half the basil into a small sauce pan and heat over low heat. Watch that the garlic doesn't burn. Cook for 5-15 minutes. Strain and discard solids.
5. When sauce has reduced to desired consistency, remove from heat, add garlic oil and remaining fresh basil. Taste for seasoning, add salt and pepper as needed. Mix all together and serve over your favorite pasta. Buon Appetito!

xo, Katie