The end of summer is approaching and that means so are my fresh picked tomatoes. Every summer, my dad would make his own marinara sauce with his tomatoes. He would start the sauce in the early afternoon and let it slowly simmer until dinnertime. The entire house was filled with a sweet aroma.
In honor of him, because cooking is one thing that is bringing me comfort right now, I decided to make my own fresh tomato sauce. Except, mine takes less than an hour. I have a little hack too, you don't need to use fresh tomatoes from your garden if you don't have enough. I used a mixture of mine and a container of already crushed tomatoes from the store. I also two things to the sauce to make it rich and decadent: butter and olive oil. This is the perfect comfort dish, but also doesn't leave you feeling like you need to take a nap afterwards.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of fresh tomatoes: Roma, Cherry, your pick!
- 28 oz container of crushed tomatoes (preferably san marzano)
- 4 oz of butter
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- 2 tsp of sea salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 2 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 small bunch of fresh basil, chopped
- 1 small bunch of fresh oregano, chopped
For the pasta:
- freshly grated parmesan
- 1lb thick spaghetti
Directions:
In a large pot, combine all of the sauce ingredients. Over medium heat, bring to a simmer and stir frequently, crushing the tomatoes with a wooden spoon along the way. Turn the heat down to low and stir once, cook for 45 minutes. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until creamy. You can also transfer to a blender.
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the package directions.
Transfer the spaghetti to a large serving bowl, pour the sauce over the spaghetti. Combine and top with freshly grated warm + fresh basil. Enjoy!
