My Marinara sucked again!

[HEyHEY]

This time it was thick enough...but hellooooooooo, hello taste! Are you there. I need some help! Send me your Marinara ideas folks! Mine sucks...... If anyone has an old Italian Grandma there, put her on!

[geebensis]

1. One grandma was Irish, the other German

So all I can say is buy a jar San Maranzano marinara sauce and enjoy.

mm

[HEyHEY]

2. My grandparents were Irish too, so no family recipe....

But I make a mean boiled cabage!

[Cheswick2.0]

3. get your google out, type marinara sauce or red sauce

then download only recipes by people whoes names end in a, o or i

[Runesong]

4. You can never have too much basil

..well you can. but just use more, within reason.

Try adding a very small ammount of rosemary.

Also throw in 1/4 to 1/2 cup of burgundy or marsala wine. Booze fixes everything! :)

[HEyHEY]

5. My therapist says the same thing!

Badoom cha!

[geebensis]

7. And garlic

Sometimes I'm tempted to skip all the other ingredients when I'm cooking Italian and just eat garlic and drink wine. Sometimes, when I can spare the calories, I even throw in a little olive oil.

mm

[Runesong]

9. Good point!

I just assumed everyone else drowned everything in garlic and olive oil :)

[BansheeBarbie]

6. Roasted Garlic

It's SOOOOOOO easy to roast garlic and it tastes really good when you cook with it.

Brush a garlic head with olive oil and put in oven for 20 minutes or so and the cloves of garlic slip
right out of their skins as a wonderful paste.

Then there's the tomatoes... the main ingredient.

Did you start with fresh?

[chatterboy]

8. Think fresh

Fresh Roma tomatoes, cooked down slowly. Don't skimp on the (equally fresh) basil and rosemary. Big-time taste.

[HEyHEY]

10. Welcome to DU

Everything comes from the garden out back...you used your first post to help out my sauce..thanks!

[chatterboy]

12. A pleasure

And glad you're starting from the out-back garden. Tomatoes in Missouri have been fab this season ... even if they're grown in the soil that John Ashcroft calls home.

[geebensis]

19. I'm still scarred from Missouri tomatoes

My parents had a garden when we lived there. The tomatoes grew in quantities that had to be seen to be believed. I'm talking a bushel a day out of a small backyard garden.

Needless to say, we ate them Every. Single. Day.

As a kid (and an adult) I can't stand raw tomatoes. They make me ill. Cooked they're fine, but raw -- no way.

Thanks for dredging up bad memories :).

mm

[chatterboy]

23. So sorry about the flashbacks

But there's something to be said about imagining the usurpers lined up along the side of the backyard fence and letting fly with several overripe tomatoes. As you so keenly noted, we've got plenty of ammo to spare.

[newyawker99]

28. Hi Land of Ashcroft!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[maxanne]

11. tell us

about your recipe, and how you're preparing it. I used to be a professonal cook - but I can't help without more detail.

[HEyHEY]

15. okay

I fry, five garlic cloves, 1 onion, a shitload of basil, pepper, and green onions in olive oil until they are ready to rock. Then I add in about 6 roma tomatoes and one normal one. Then I put in more onion and basil and oregano, and then green peppers, and mushrooms. Add a small dash of cinniman (sp?) and some bay leaves. Let it sit.

[Duncan Grant]

13. My husband is Italiano and makes a mean marinara...

if you post (or PM me) the recipe maybe I can get him to surrender a tip or two.

No offense, but maybe it's being over cooked?

"The Joy of Cooking" probably has a good recipe -- that's the book we consult first.

ciao ciao!

[HEyHEY]

16. look above your post

it's up there

[Duncan Grant]

24. Try a little fennel (just enough to suit your taste)...

and be careful not to overcook peppers (they get bitter and destroy the more subtle flavors). If you saute vegetables beforehand -- cook on medium heat. Never overcook, cook the sauce for an hour (simmer) and let it rest (it keeps cooking for awhile).

If your recipe has a history of being too bitter...counter by mincing (sp?) 1/4 of a regular sized apple and add to recipe with the tomatoes (seeded, of course).

My husband says to find a _simple_, basic recipe that you like and master it. After that, experiment a little!

(BTW, Interrobang's recipe looks worth a try to me. Wonder if anyone has a good recipe for Goulash out there, but that's a future thread...)

Good luck.

[AnnabelLee]

14. Basil

Basil, basil, basil. Some oregano, & minced garlic, & a pinch of marjoram wouldn't hurt, either.

[Nikia]

17. Cook everything in olive oil

If you are doing a strict tomato marinara, you probably don't have carrots and mushroom in your sauce like I do. I start off sauteeing the garlic and other vegtables I add in a tablespoon of olive oil. It is "good" fat and tastes good (I use extra virgin). I then make the whole sauce in that pan. I add lots of basil and whatever else I can find until it tastes good. I am constantly tasting whenever I am being creative and want something to taste good.

[Interrobang]

18. Ok, move over...

I make wicked red sauce to die for -- I have to, because to me, an Alfredo sauce is to die *from*. My other alternative is pesto, which I also do a really good job at. My ancestry is all Ukranian and British Isles, so no excuses!

Assemble:

1 can Hunt's Thick and Rich sauce (you're CDN so I know you can get this), the kind in the blue label
1 small can tomato paste (go for Mr. Goudas!) NB: These are for texture and cohesion so the resulting sauce isn't too runny.

(hush, you heretics; by the time I'm done you can't tell they're there)

as much hamburger as you can scrape up, lean or extra-lean
2-3 large onions
AT LEAST 1/2 head fresh garlic (do NOT roast the garlic; it makes it too sweet!), chopped into tiny pieces (smash the cloves first for extra pungency)
2-3+ large fresh tomatoes
1 medium-sized zucchini
1 large courgette (yellow zucchini)
1 red bell pepper, cut into sauce-sized pieces
1 green bell pepper, cut into sauce-sized pieces
Portobello or cremini mushrooms (these brown kinds make ALL the difference!), in sauce-sized pieces
1 cup or so of GOOD red wine, or to taste (I like Valpolicella)
Olive oil, preferably decanted into a jar containing garlic pieces!

Options:

1/2 can sliced black olives
1 diced Italian eggplant
Parmesan cheese

Spices:

2 dashes Mr. Goudas hot sauce
Fresh parsley
Fresh/dried basil (2 tbsp.)
LOTS of oregano!!
2 tsp. crushed black peppercorns
salt (added last, or to taste)

In a large pot:

Brown the hamburger, adding some basil, oregano, and garlic halfway. Drain the fat off in a colander; return hamburg to pot. Brown onions with hamburger. When browned, add the tomatoes and some olive oil (this is to release the heart-healthy stuff that you get when you cook tomatoes in olive oil). When the tomatoes are looking cooked, add the tomato sauce/paste. Stir and bring to a boil. Add some more spices and garlic. Simmer for a while, then add the vegetables and/or options. Add more spices and garlic. Simmer on low heat until veggies are almost done and sauce is thickened, then add the wine and then salt, plus more spices and garlic to taste. Add the fresh parsley about now if you haven't added it already. Simmer for a few more minutes, then serve over pasta.

Also makes delicious minestrone soup when combined with beans, pasta, and water!

Serves: Many, or four extremely hungry stoners with a bad case of the munchies...

[HEyHEY]

20. Thanks for taking the time to write that

I'll print it out

[Kathy in Cambridge]

21. Marinara vs. Sauce

I have an Italian mother-in-law. a Marinara is a simple, everyday, thinner tomato sauce made with fresh ingredients. In Boston (and some parts of NY/NJ) we call the thick sauce 'gravy' and it usually has meat in it.

Slow cooking is essential. I have also found carmelizing garlic and onion adds flavor. My marinara recipe:

fresh tomatoes
garlic and onion to taste (in my house that means LOTS)
fresh basil
fresh oregano (dried is OK too)
red wine
salt and pepper
a little sugar

Cook slowly all day, adding basil at the beginning and the end.

My meat sauce is pretty good-PM me if you want the recipe.

On edit: if you can't get fresh tomatoes, Muir Glen organic tomatoes with Basil or ITalian herbs are pretty good.

[Pobeka]

22. Yes, a little sugar!

If your sauce is to acidic, and you can't quite figure out why it doesn't have that "rich" taste like a good resaurant, then toss in a little sugar - say 1/2 to 1 tsp per cup of sauce. It really helps to make up for not-so-ripe tomatoes!

[Melsky]

25. Use carrots instead of sugar

one grated carrot in the sauce will add sweetness and vitamins too.

My Favorite Sauce recipe:

3 large onions
6 carrots
1 bunch celery
Two large cans tomatoes
Olive Oil

Note, there is NO garlic! It works well without.

Saute the onions until they are translucent. Add the carrots and celery, stir fry for about 5 minutes. Then turn the stuff down real low for about a half hour. It will start to smell really, really good! There is a chemical reaction in those three foods when cooked alone together.

Next, add the canned tomatoes and most of the liquid in the cans. Simmer for an hour or so, most of the sauce will cook off.

Serve over pasta, topped with lots of sharp romano cheese. Especially good with a salad and some garlic bread.

Even though I hated carrots and celery as a child, this was one of my favorite dishes.

[patcox2]

26. Marinara is easy, quick, and light.

Its very easy. Here's a 5 minute recipe:

2 tablespoons olive oil, in a saute pan.

3 or 4 garlic cloves, chopped or sliced very thin if yiou like, add to the oil and sweat gently, do not, under any circumstances, brown chopped garlic, it turns bitter and nasty; just sorta fry it very gently for a minute or two.

Add a large can of either crushed, or chopped tomatoes, or whole tomatoes that you crush with your hands, the imported italian brands are better.

Add a handfull of chopped fresh basil.

Cook about 5 minutes, thats it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don;t be afraid to add what might seem a scary amount of salt to a home made sauce, I guarantee it will be less than what you get in a pre-made sauce.

Thats a serious point, many cooks starting out with "do it yourself" make it from scratch recipes have been drilled with this "salt is evil" thing. When you cook from scratch, you have to add salt, and it might seem like a lot, but trust me, its less than you get in a canned sauce or a sauce you buy in the restaurant. Shaking from the shaker won't do it, we are talking a teaspoon at a time (taste between and stop when it works for you). There is this magic moment when you have added just the right amount of salt and suddenly the flavor explodes. Go for it.

Add a bunch of hot pepper flakes an cook a while and its "fra diavolo." Add some anchovies and olives or maybe some capers and its "Putanesca," which means "whore sauce," sicilians are so respectful of women.

But its easy. come over and I will show you how.
Anything more elaborate than that is not a marinara, its a sauce ro a gravy, thats different.

[44wax]

27. Italian Red Gravy

My mother and my best friend's mother are Italian. Here is their version of "Twokoo" (phonetic spelling). My mom uses a rolled pork roast. I like the wild birds.

A dozen quail or doves plucked and split. Onions, Garlic, Porcini Mushrooms, Olive oil, fresh marjoram, fresh homegrown tomatoes.

Do not overheat the olive oil, add onions garlic and birds. Do not let the saute dry out. Add wine of your choice only if needed to bring up the liquid.

Pick the bones from the birds. Bring up liquid if necessary. Add marjoram and then mushrooms. Let saute. Add tomatoes and wine to bring up the liquid. Bring up the volume of the liquid slowly. Cook on a low simmer for at least two hours. Finish with fresh herbs before serving. Serve with polenta or ravioli. f

Use your nose. Do not go to the next step until you smell the flavors. Add marjoram early and basil late. In fact do not add the basil until the end for you really get the bouquet and flavor this way.

The porcinis and birds make the gravy.