Marinara Sauce

My Favourite Sauces

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.com_0926I think spring is finally here, phew…how is the weather wherever you are? I hope you are enjoying Friday the way I am. I am playing music, sipping a glass of orange juice (not wine ha!) and reminiscing about the good old days. I hope you had a good week. Mine was extra busy as usual. There was hardly any time to chat to my lovely friends on the WordPress platform. Don’t worry the chatting will begin tonight, right through the weekend.

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.comI want to be able to reach all my simple recipes at the click of the mouse so I’m busy posting them. This marinara sauce is one of them. Please, if you every try this recipe, make sure you add the wine (a good quality one you can sip whilst cooking). Please don’t ask me whether it tastes nice without wine, coz I’ve never tried it without wine. Have you ever walked into a kitchen when wine is simmering, in a pot? Red wine for that matter? The aroma is unbelievable. Okay friends, I need respond to my messages. I wish you a goodnight or good morning, wherever you are. Have a fabulous weekend!

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.comClick on to the recipe…

  • Ingredients 
  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 1 celery stalk finely sliced
  • 2-3 garlic cloves garlic crushed
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube (optional)
  • 800g plum tomatoes (8 medium tomatoes), skinned and chopped (or 1 x 796ml (28 fl oz) can whole Italian plum tomatoes)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ cup good quality red wine
  • 3 tablespoons shredded fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil or other preferred fresh herbs)
  • Basil stalks
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.com_0890Please always  remember to assemble all ingredients before you start

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.comHeat the olive oil in a saucepan (skillet) over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and chilli flakes (if using)

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.com_0897and cook, stirring until onion is soft (5-7 minutes)

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.comStir in tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, wine and bouillon cube (if using). If using dried spices, add them now; if using fresh basil or other fresh herbs add, just before serving. Bring to the boil, throw in the basil stalks, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.com Season with salt and pepper, remove basil stalks and add chopped basil and serve with spaghetti.

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.comI love this recipe because it’s simple and straightforward

Marinara Sauce myfavouritepastime.com_1605I got tired of store-bought sauces. Sometimes I have this eerie feeling that they all taste the same

Marinara Sauce

Preparation time: 15 minutes; Cooking Time: 30 minutes; Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

  • 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 1 celery stalk finely sliced
  • 2-3 garlic cloves garlic crushed
  • ½ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 vegetable bouillon cube (optional)
  • 800g plum tomatoes (8 medium tomatoes), skinned and chopped (or 1 x 796ml (28 fl oz) can whole Italian plum tomatoes)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • ½ cup good quality red wine
  • 3 tablespoons shredded fresh basil (or 1 teaspoon dried basil or other preferred fresh herbs)
  • Basil stalks
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan (skillet) over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic and chilli flakes (if using) and cook, stirring until onion is soft (5-7 minutes)
  2. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, tomato paste, wine and bouillon cube (if using). If using dried spices, add them now; if using fresh basil or other fresh herbs add, just before serving. Bring to the boil, throw in the basil stalks, reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, remove basil stalks and add chopped basil and serve with spaghetti.

myfavouritepastime.com

 

 

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Author: Liz

I love everything food: eating, cooking, baking and travelling. I also love photography and nature.

42 thoughts

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    1. […] there is always a first time. Today I want to share an extra simple recipe, which stems from the Marinara Sauce I posted on April 4. I love the Marinara sauce because it has lots of red wine. If you never use […]

      Reply

    1. My Dear Rosa,
      I am so sorry, I am swimming in a backlog of messages…the week has been extra busy for me. I hope you enjoyed the marinara? Happy Sunday!
      Liz

      Reply

  4. Sounds delicious. I have a secret ingredient which I add to most tomato based pasta sauces; white truffle oil. It works a charm.

    Thanks for the recipe and have a wonderful day ahead.

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the tip. I’ve never used white trifle oil but I must try it and experience the charm too! Thanks for sharing, Lignum.
      Liz

      Reply

  5. What a great recipe! The photos definitely do it justice too. Actually, it’s my turn to make dinner tomorrow night so I may just use your recipe to make spaghetti!!! Actually, it’s kind of funny because I was thinking about pasta dish today, of some type. Right now I’m in the office at the complex using wifi and right opposite is a vending machine for snacks. I can figure out most of them by pictures….mini donuts are labelled Bimbo Donas! honestly!!!! LOL, then there are Triki Trakes, they sort of look like a chocolate chip cookie. At a market yesterday a man was making churros…oh my gosh!!!! Well, thanks for the recipe, I’ll let you know how it turns out! Wishing you an awesome week coming up!

    Reply

    1. Hi Sandy,
      This week has been triple busy for me. I am totally backlogged on everything. Did you try the sauce? I really love it. I have made it so many times. Nice to know you’re cooking in turns…my mother used to make us cook in turns and since we were so many, it worked so well. Each person only got to cook once a week. I wonder what the word bimbo means to them (baby?). Did you eat the churros? They must have tasted delicious. Please let me know how it turned out.Best wishes to you and your family. (The temperatures are great!!!)
      Liz

      Reply

  8. Yum! That sauce looks so rich and flavoursome! I love a good pasta dish. it’s so good I can still get delicious gluten-free pasta, so that I can still enjoy dishes like this. :3

    Reply

  11. I enjoy adding wine to many dishes I make including a marinara dipping sauce for Margherita spring rolls (I do not think I posted that recipe yet). My basic sauce recipe goes back a long way when I did not add wine. Of course this has changed – I think as long as it is a good wine (not from a gallon jug) it will add some nice flavor. I know I add wine to a number of recipes and it certainly enhances the dish. Anyways, it is a good excuse to finish the rest of the bottle 🙂

    Reply

    1. Hi Aunt Juju,
      Could you kindly post the recipe for marinara dipping sauce for Margherita spring rolls…I totally agree. never use the wine from a gallon jug..the wine is being added for flavour, good flavour that is. Ha ha I just emptied my red wine and opened a new one straight away. A good way to consume wine! Have a lovely Sunday!
      Liz

      Reply

  13. Liz thank you so much for this one I have only gotten one other tomato sauce recipe that I like to use fresh tomatoes In and I cant wait for garden tomatoes… will try this one and if it works out well I will try to cann some and do a track back link to this post!

    Reply

    1. Hi Jolyn
      I love this sauce. I hope you do too. make sure you add the red wine. It’s the core of this sauce. I hope you enjoy the garden tomatoes!
      Liz

      Reply

  14. This looks very yummy. 🙂 Adding wine sounds good as well. Commercial sauces here don’t really have similar flavors/tastes but that’s actually a bad thing because a few of them don’t taste that good.

    Reply

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