November 08, 2024
Correction

Clarification

A previously printed version of this tomato sauce recipe omitted a step. The corrected recipe follows:

Mary O’Shea’s Marvelous Marinara

10 pounds ripe paste tomatoes (she uses Amish Paste and Grandma Mary’s Paste varieties)

1 large bulb garlic

6 onions (red and yellow mix)

4 small stalks celery with lots of leaves (fresh celery, available at farmers markets, is much smaller and more flavorful than the supermarket variety. In a pinch, you can substitute 1 stalk supermarket celery)

3 large carrots

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup Freezer Pesto (recipe follows)

1/4 cup red wine

1 teaspoon fennel seed

4 tablespoons tomato paste

A handful of fresh basil leaves, shredded

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced

Sea salt and cracked pepper, to taste

Coarsely chop first five ingredients and combine, with olive oil, in a large stock pot for an hour or so, until vegetables are soft. Put through a tomato press and simmer for an hour, or until sauce thickens. This base can be frozen for future use.

Take 4 quarts of the base sauce and add pesto, red wine, fennel seed, tomato paste, basil, rosemary, salt and pepper. Simmer until satisfied with the flavor and texture (this should take several hours).

Freezer Pesto

1-2 cups basil leaves (O’Shea uses enough to fill the bowl of her food processor)

1/2 cup olive oil

1 whole bulb garlic, peeled (or to taste)

Puree all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth. Leftovers can be frozen.


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