Marinara Sauce Number Two

I have a lot of cookbooks and one of my favorites is Cooking from an Italian Garden by Paola Scaravelli and Jon Cohen.  There are over 300 vegetarian recipes in this book.  Over the years I’ve made virtually none of the recipes in the book.  Yes, virtually zero.  This cookbook remains a favorite because it is inspirational.  You can prepare simple healthy meals without animal proteins.  The section on sauces alone is worth the price of admission.

The following is my adaptation of a flavorful marinara sauce that I recently prepared for a Stack Project recipe.

• 1/2 medium sweet onion, diced
• 1 carrot diced
• 1 stalk celery diced
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 14.5 oz can stewed tomatoes
• handful fresh basil, chopped (or healthy pinch of dried basil if fresh is not available)
• handful fresh parsley, chopped ( or dried, if fresh is not available)
• Salt
• Sugar

1. Saute the vegetables until wilted.
2. Add the canned tomatoes, herbs and simmer uncovered for one hour.
3. Salt lightly and add just enough sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes.
4. Done.

Tips

Garlic???  By all means if you have to have garlic, use some.  The quality and acidity levels of canned tomatoes vary tremendously.  Use sugar only when necessary.  This sauce freezes well.