Recipe From The New Orleans Menu Daily

Fresh Marinara Sauce

This is the kind of red sauce we make most often at home. It's cooked only a few minutes, so the freshness of the tomatoes doesn't turn into sweetness. The flavor of fresh basil--which we have growing outside in all the non-freezing months--is a top note.

2 cans whole plum tomatoes with basil
4 fresh, ripe plum tomatoes
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs. chopped fresh garlic
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
Leaves of six sprigs of Italian parsley, chopped
15 leaves fresh basil, chopped

1. Drain and reserve the juice from the canned tomatoes. Put the tomatoes in a food processor and chop them almost into a puree. (You can also do this by squeezing the tomatoes with your fingers in a bowl.)

2. Cut off the stem end and cut an X on the smooth end of each fresh tomato. Drop them into boiling water for about fifteen seconds. After they cool a bit, peel the tomatoes, squeeze out the seeds and pulp, and chop them finely.

3. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over high heat until it ripples. Add the garlic, crushed red pepper, and oregano and cook for a minute. Add all the tomatoes and stir, maintaining the heat, until you have a pretty good boil. Lower the heat, add one cup of the reserved juice, and return to a low boil.

4. Add the salt, parsley and basil, and continue cooking for about ten minutes, stirring once in awhile. You can cook it longer for a sweeter sauce, but I think it tastes best right at this point.

Makes about six cups of sauce.
Revised 3/29/08


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