Well, I have a recipe BELOW that'sWONDERFULlY FRESH, but it also freezes great too! So, if you have an abundance of fresh GARDENTOMATOES... you can make some now, and then even freeze some sauce for later.
If not, YOU might GO SHOPPING for TOMATOES & RED PEPPERS, andthen make fresh marinara any time you like! Red Peppers: ROASTINGTIPS - Preheat oven to 500°F. Core and cut peppers in half. In a glass bowl, oil pepper skins and flesh with olive oil. Oil a small, foil-lined baking sheet, and roast skin-side up for 30-45 minutes, until peppers until charred. Remove from oven, and place under the glass bowl (to steam) and loosen the skins. Once cool, the skins will come off easily. Reserve until needed.
Skinning Tomato Tip:
Meanwhile, core the tomatoes and score each little bottom with a 1-inch-sized X. Scald in hot water. Plunge the tomatoes in cold water and the skins pull right off - slick. Cut in half and be sure toREMOVEthe acidic juice andseeds. Don't forget*
Serving Suggestions: To preserve the freshness, simply warm through and DO NOT OVER-COOK or OVER-HEAT the sauce, thus retaining the fresh flavors. Serve over hot pasta and meatballs, even "Zoodles" of Squash Noodles (Gluten Free)or lasagna. Makes a great dipping sauce for bread sticks.
(Years ago) The Olive Garden'sVenetian Chicken, USED to be marinated, grilled & topped with a fresh REDMARINARA sauce. Plus they ALWAYS served this secret fresh sauce to dip your bread sticks in little tin cups; remember that years ago? It was always sooo delicious! The sauce the chicken, the whole shebang! So OKAY... if you already KNOW ME (or MAYBE you've just met ME), well then let me say this...
Note: Didn't photograph the cracked pepper, and chose to blend in xanthan gum later.
Fresh Marinara Sauce
Makes: 12 servings (3 quarts)
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided 2 sweet red peppers, pre-roasted 2 1/2 lbs fresh tomatoes 6 garlic cloves, minced 1 small onion, chopped 4 (15-oz) cans crushed tomatoes in puree, or 2 (29-oz) cans 2 Tbsp quality balsamic vinegar 3 Tbsp sweet fresh basil, or 5 tsp dried basil 3 tsp ITALIAN SEASONING MIX 2 tsp sugar, (depends on tomatoes) more needed or Whey Low Granular 2 tsp salt 1 tsp cracked pepper, freshly ground 1 tsp xanthan gum, helps with runniness
Marinara Sauce:In a large stockpot, pour in the tomato puree, balsamic vinegar and add the peeled fresh tomatoes, plus prepared onions and garlic; blend until smooth with my favoritestick blender until smooth, by Cuisinart.
Using my handy-dandy mini-food processor attachment for my onions and garlic (not pictured). Blend into sauce.
Mini-food processor, add roasted pepper, basil, seasoning mix. Pulse until chunky and STIR into the pot. Otherwise chop and mince by hand.
Next, stir in the sugar, salt & cracked pepper, to taste. Finally, we prefer the sauce just warmed through, retaining the fresh flavors.
This sauce freezes beautifully in (zip-bags) label and date.
*Both the SEEDS & JUICE are very acidic and so your saucewould be too,if you forgot to remove them. Worse it will separate and be runny too. Don't worry, I've forgotten to remove the seeds and juice myself too - and it's MY RECIPE, hahaha!
You NEED NOT fret (simply get your pantry stocked!)
Counteract the acidic flavor, by adding 2-Tbsp sugar to balance it
out to taste.
If there is LOTS of separation and runniness, did you forget to remove the juice and seeds? (Yes, I've even forgotten and it's MY RECIPE.) So you can blend in a bit more xanthan gum, to see if that helps.
Also, a sure fire fix is to SLOWLY sprinkle a small amount of Ultra Gel - Instant, Gluten-Free Thickener, stir and wait 5 minutes for it to reach it's full thickening power.
Ta Da! All that work & LOVELY SAUCE is now PERFECTLY saved, (now no one will have ever known!)
Then when they come on, WOW... THEY COME ON! So you've got to come up with IDEAS for all these TOMATOES!
Makes: 12 servings (3 quarts)
Using my handy-dandy mini-food processor attachment for my onions and garlic (not pictured). Blend into sauce.
, stir and wait 5 minutes for it to reach it's full thickening power.