Karen's Marinara Sauce

Karen's Marinara Sauce

My Base Red Sauce for Everything Italian!

Submitted by: ChiChi
Recipe Source: Karen's Own Recipe
Keywords: Red Pasta Sauce Marinara Spaghetti Italian

Store bought sauce taste test results also included

Ingredients: 

Base:
1 lg jar (24 oz) Spaghetti Sauce, original flavor

     - or Marinara Sauce

     - or 1 (8 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

        + 2 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
2 tsp. Dried Garden Oregano
2 tsp. Dried Garden Basil
2 tsp. Dried Garden Parsley

1 Bay Leaf (optional)
Few springs of Dried Garden Thyme
Several Twists of Cracked Black Pepper
Few Twists of Cracked Sea Salt

***And pick one of the following choices:

For Marinara Recipes & Spaghetti 

1/2 Onion, chopped

1 cup Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
     -or 1 sm can Mushrooms

2 cloves Garlic, minced

     -adjust according to jarred sauce flavor
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, for saute
1 pat of Real Butter, for saute (optional)

1/4 cup Water 

     -or Dry Red Wine like Chianti

* Add 1 can crushed or diced Tomatoes 

     -if chunky style sauce is desired.

*Add crumbled sausage, Italian sausage or hamburger 

     -if meat sauce is desired.

For Smooth Dipping or Pizza Sauce:

1 tsp Onion Powder

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Optional Grated Hard Cheeses:
     -1/4 cup Romano cheese
     -1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a heavy bottom stainless steel frying pan or iron skillet, melt the butter on med heat. Add mushrooms and onion then drizzle enough olive oil to thoroughly coat. Saute about 10 minutes, until onions are translucent and schrooms are tender and golden. Add the garlic about half way through (the garlic may burn if cooked too long). Do not drain the olive oil, unless there is an excess amount. Deglaze the pan by adding water or wine, scraping out all the tasty little morsels stuck to the bottom. 

Stir in the jarred spaghetti sauce and add all the seasonings. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (or 20 min if using tomatoes and tomato sauce). 

Keep covered to re-hydrate and infuse all the herbs. If a thicker sauce is desired, uncover and simmer another 5 minutes for liquid evaporation (different types of tomato's, either fresh or canned, produce varying end results). Remove the bay leaf when finished. 

And taste taste taste! There are a lot of ingredient factors that affect the overall taste, especially with the beginning tomato sauce base choice, so adjust seasoning as needed. 


Serve or store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Additional Comments: 

* Choose "original" or "Traditional" flavored spaghetti sauces. A minimalist approach is best suited for the tomato base in this recipe.

*Use garlic powder, not use garlic salt. Its easy to ruin a dish with too much salt. 

*Substitute herbs & seasonings accordingly, but I typically use my own home grown and dried herbs for best flavor. If using commercial dried herbs, you may need to add more quantity to the recipe as these are considerably less potent. Fresh herbs always produce the best flavors, and use a generous portion of chopped fresh leaves. 

* If you make Italian sauces frequently, a great time saver is to buy minced garlic and all the chopped herbs chopped in a jar 

"Spaghetti" actually refers to the shape of the pasta, and in the US "marinara" refers to the sauce.  "Spaghetti" is actually plural for "spaghetto" which translates to "twine" in Italian. In Italy you would say the type of pasta and then mention the sauce too. So the classic spaghetti dish we know in the US would be called "Spaghetti alla marinara".



Quantity:

Prep Time:
Cooking Time:

Nutritional Values: 

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Store Bought Marinara Taste Tests: 
from Consumer Reports & several others

Turns out that when it comes to jarred tomato sauce, you really do get what you pay for. Inexpensive sauces primary ingredient is either tomato purée (made from combining water and tomato paste), or crushed tomatoes treated with citric acid to help them keep some semblance of texture, not whole tomatoes. They usually have loads more salt and sugar, as well as dried garlic or garlic powder.  It's an old lazy cook's trick. Don't have the flavor you want? Just add salt and sugar to bump it up.

Listed in order from Best to Worst:

*Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce ($9 24oz)-Winner at most all taste tests: also had the fewest ingredients: imported Italian tomatoes, imported olive oil, fresh onions, salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper, and oregano. Simple, just like home made.  only 340 miligrams of sodium and 3 grams of sugar per half cup serving,

*Lidia's Tomato Basil ($10 24oz)- Runner up: It was a little wetter than some of the other sauces with a strong cooked garlic flavor


*Monte Bene Garlic Marinara  ($7 24oz): Not as chunky as some of the others.taste the garlic, the sweet basil, and the oregano

*Victoria’s All Natural Marinara ($5) if you like a vinegary, acidic tomato sauce, this is a good pick.Nutrition: One serving (1/2 cup/113g) = 70 calories, 4g total fat, 1g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 380mg sodium, 8g total carbs, 1g fiber, 5g sugar, 2g proteinIngredients: Imported Italian tomatoes, pure Italian olive oil, fresh onions, fresh basil, fresh garlic, sea salt, and spices

*Mario Batali, pricier but also somewhat lower in calories, fat, and sugars. Tastes as if made with fresh ingredients. Batali costs more than twice as much as the De Laurentiis

*Giada De Laurentis' tomato basil (only at Target). A big winner at many different taste tests. It’s balanced and fresh-tasting, with a buttery richness.

*Bertolli's ($4) tomato and basil sauce is very good, but its marinara sauce rated lower, with a somewhat sour taste. Nutrition: One serving (1/2 cup or 125g) = 90 calories, 4.5g total fat, .5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 510 mg sodium, 11g total carbs, 2g fiber, 7g sugars, 2g protein Bertolli Ingredients: Organic tomato puree (water, organic tomato paste), organic diced tomatoes in juice, organic soybean oil, organic sugar, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic onions, sea salt, organic garlic, organic Romano cheese (organic cultured part-skim milk, salt, enzymes), organic basil, organic black pepper, organic fennel

*Barilla $2.50. Really chunky and thick. Good balance of garlic and herbs. I could eat more”; “Tastes real” Nutrition: One serving (1/2 cup/125g) = 90 calories, 3.5g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 470mg sodium, 12g total carbs, 3g fiber, 7g sugar, 2g protein. Ingredients: Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste) Diced Tomatoes, Onions, Sugar, Salt, Garlic, Natural Flavor, Olive Oil, Sunflower Oil, Parsley, Thyme, Pepper

*Prego $3.50 ”Tastes like tomato! Basic with a little zing at the end”; “Canned tasting but not in a bad way”; “Tastes like pizza sauce”; “A little garlicky but not very robust. Little lasting flavor”. Nutrition: : One serving (1/2 cup/120mL) = 80 calories, 3g total fat, 0.5g saturated fat, 0g trans fat, 0mg cholesterol, 480mg sodium, 10g total carbs, 3g fiber, 7g sugar, 2g protein. Ingredients:Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Diced Tomatoes in Tomatoes Juice, Sugar, Canola Oil, Salt, Dehydrated Onions, Spice, Dehydrated Garlic, Citric Acid, Natural Flavoring

*Newman's Own Tomato & Basil- Bad across the board: Sickly sweetness and artificial, processed flavor.

*Emeril's-Bad across the board:

* Ragú was so sweet it tasted more like ketchup than sauce and was far too liquidy.


*Hunt’s Traditional-The worst. It tastes a bit like tomato paste and is slightly sour, with a soapy, perfumey off-taste.