Garden Marinara Sauce

Garden Marinara Sauce

Well, I just returned from another trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula and have everything just about unpacked. When I got home last night, I checked my little garden and it seems to be growing well. My two tomato plants shot up during the eleven days I was gone. I can't wait for some garden tomatoes.

My home in the UP for the last eleven days.

Back when I first moved to Lisle, I had a big garden and it would produce tomatoes by the bushel. By late July, my counter would be overflowing with ripe tomatoes and I would struggle to use them fast enough. It helped that I had my big dinners for a large group every Wednesday night. Needless to say, I made a lot of pasta with fresh tomatoes.

Here is a pasta sauce you can make from fresh garden tomatoes. Oh, don’t roll your eyes. There is no reason for that. This is easy. You put the vegetables in the blender with a little wine and blend until smooth. 

Don’t get all snippy because I didn’t say how many tomatoes. What you want is a total of two full blenders (before blending). If you have a proper garden, you have most of these ingredients growing in it. 

A tisket, a tasket, go get your darn basket! Start picking the tomatoes. When you have them, pay attention. I’ll show you how this is done.

For each blender:

Tomatoes

Fresh thyme, leaves from two sprigs

10 fresh basil leaves

1 banana pepper

2 cloves of garlic

1 small onion, quartered

1/2 cup dry white wine

For the rest of the sauce:

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot grated

2 cloves of garlic smashed and minced

Salt 

White pepper

10 fresh basil leaves

2 tbs. butter

Preparation

In your blender, add some tomatoes, each cut into quarters. Add the banana pepper, basil, garlic, and onion as well as half of the thyme. Add enough quartered tomatoes to fill the blender and then add about a half cup of the white wine. Now here is a tip: put the cover on the blender before blending. This is important. Believe me, I know these things. When the vegetables are well blended, like a milkshake, pour the mixture into a bowl and repeat with another blender full.

Heat a large wide braising pan and then sauté the onion, grated carrot and garlic in the olive oil. (You are now working from the second group of ingredients. Hopefully all the ingredients from the first group have been blended. If not, turn the stove off and go to Olive Garden). 

When the onions soften, pour the bowl of blended vegetables into the sauce pan. Bring the sauce to a vigorous boil and then simmer until the sauce has reduced down and is the right thickness for a pasta sauce, about thirty to forty minutes. Stir often. When the sauce has been reduced, chop the ten remaining basil leaves and add them to the sauce. Stir for about a minute and turn off the heat. Add the butter and stir until it is melted and mixed in.

Serving

Cook up a pound of thick spaghetti. When it is al dente, drain it and place it in a bowl. Splash a little of your best olive oil over it and stir. Serve this pasta next to a bunch of grilled Italian sausage. Cover both with an ample amount of the marinara.

Now add a tall pile of sautéed spinach. Sprinkle everything with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Don’t forget to serve a soup and a salad. You also must add some fresh baked bread with plenty of butter. Finally, pick out a good bottle of Barbera d’Alba and you will feel pretty good about the world. For dessert, I suggest sliced melon. See how easy it is to cook with fresh tomatoes!