Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce

I’m a huge fan of everything Italy.  I love Italy’s history (I majored in Classical Studies in college) and Italy’s culture.  I’ve had several awesome opportunities to visit, and I’ve loved each and every minute I spent there. My wife and I even went on our honeymoon to Italy.  My wife is also part-Italian, so I can always count on a huge pot of ravioli and meatballs amid the Thanksgiving and Christmas buffets.  Speaking of food, Italian cuisine is arguably one of the best things about Italy!  I’d have a very difficult time picking my favorite Italian meal, but you can be sure that this Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce would be one of the finalists.

This Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce features simple, classic ingredients…and together they are transformed into a delicious homemade sauce that easily tops the store-bought stuff.  In fact, I typically make a double batch of this sauce and then freeze a couple of jars of it.  This sauce is so flavorful that I usually just serve it over plain pasta, but you could certainly use it in lasagna or any other favorite Italian meal.  This is my go-to sauce when I need a classic, easy Italian red sauce!

The key to this sauce is using San Marzano tomatoes.  San Marzano tomatoes are considered by many to be the best tomatoes in the world, and fortunately cans of these tomatoes can typically be found in your local grocery store.  Yes, they will cost a little more than other canned tomatoes, but trust me when I say that the difference is worth the extra cost!  (True San Marzano tomatoes should have an official label on the can…so keep an eye out for it when picking up the cans at the store.)

Here’s another tip about Italian food that I learned from a chef several years ago.  Always finish cooking the pasta in the pan with the sauce.  Don’t just cook the pasta, put it on a plate and then pour the marinara sauce on top.  Instead, drain your pasta when it’s about 2-3 minutes from being done.  Then transfer it into the pot with the sauce to finish cooking.  That way, the pasta absorbs the flavor of the sauce…and it also helps the sauce cling to the pasta better.  Oh, and one other tip: Reserve a little bit of the pasta water when you strain out the pasta.  That way, if the sauce gets too thick after you add the pasta, then you can thin it back out by adding a little bit of the leftover pasta water.  I suspect it’s simple, little tricks like these that help the Italians turn everyday ingredients into the mouth-watering feasts that we all know and love!