One of the delights of late tomato season in the south is fresh marinara sauce. Every batch has its own personality, varying with the type of tomatoes you use, their ripeness, how they are prepared.
Here are some things to know that will make cooking marinara simple. Boil some water and blanch whole tomatoes for 30 seconds or so, transfer to the sink and core with a paring knife. The peel will fall off. Then, squeeze out the seeds and the watery pulp. Don’t squeeze too hard, but do get rid of the extra water. After peeling, you can chop, puree or hand-squeeze the tomatoes into a bowl ready to go into the pot. I generally use a food processor, though it’s satisfying to hand-squeeze the tomatoes. It gives one a nice, visceral connection with the food, and the result is pulpy and rustic.
For most of my marinaras, I’ll saute one finely-chopped, medium-sized yellow or white onion in good olive oil, or use half a large onion. Three or four cloves chopped garlic (also fine) goes in after the onions have started to soften. Grate a half a carrot and add to the onion-garlic mix. The carrot makes the sauce a touch sweeter – you won’t taste it. Watch the heat and try not to let the mixture brown. When, very soft pour in the pureed/chopped/squeezed tomatoes. Add about 1/4 cup red wine. Let bubble until the mixture is reduced by about a third, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. Add kosher salt, freshly-ground pepper and an herb. I believe it’s best to keep the marinara mono-herb and rarely mix them. Today, I used about two tablespoons of pureed fresh basil that I had in the refrigerator (intended originally for pesto). Dried oregano or thyme also make a great marinara, but I prefer using only one. Being a man who prefers richly-spiced sauces, I’m a bit heavy handed. You may want to start with less and add more to suit your taste. Understand that the herb taste will deepen over time.
The marinara is ready to eat once you get the seasoning right, but it will get better if you turn off the heat and let it rest for at least a half hour, and several hours is fine.
Simple marinara and pasta is delicious. Add a little Parmigiana and eat with toasted bread and some olive oil. Or cook a Japanese eggplant with some fresh herbs (chopped sage and thyme are nice) and top with marinara and a disk of goat cheese, as in our lunch Sunday afternoon (see photo). Or, add it to cauliflower along with pasta, or use it on eggplant stacks, or in hundreds of other dishes.
The key is don’t buy canned or jarred tomato sauce, factory food at its worst with all the preservatives, stabilizers and flavor enhancers that ruin the taste to keep it shelf-ready for five or ten years. If you ever do a taste comparison, you’ll throw the store-bought stuff out. Fresh, lovely, wonderful marinara is only thirty minutes away.
