Classic Tomato Marinara Sauce
This is a classic, basic tomato marinara sauce that makes an absolute staple for a lot of my pasta recipes.
Make a big batch of this sauce with fresh tomatoes and then freeze to have on hand whenever you need it.
Fresh tomatoes versus canned tomatoes
I like to make this recipe with fresh tomatoes whenever I can - this summer, we grew our own tomatoes which meant we had a real abundance (read: more than we knew what to do with!), so cooking up a batch of this marinara sauce was the perfect solution.
However, there will be some occasions where you don't have fresh tomatoes or don't have the time to be peeling them before making this sauce. In those cases, using whole plum tomatoes will be fine - it might not taste quite as good, but you'll still get a good tomato pasta sauce.
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Peeling tomatoes
Peeling the tomatoes before cooking the sauce may seem like a lot of hassle but trust me, it makes the sauce a thousand times better.
Popping the tomatoes in some boiling water for a couple of minutes then rinsing in cold water makes the skins practically fall away from the tomatoes, so it's really not as much work as it seems.
If you've got particularly chunky tomatoes, you might want to core them after peeling too.
To blend or not to blend
Some purists will probably tell you that blending a classic tomato marinara sauce is sacrilege - but I think it depends on what you like.
If you want a perfectly smooth sauce without the seeds and onion etc, blend away. I've blended the sauce with my immersion blender a couple of times when I want a really smooth pasta sauce.
If you want less hassle and aren't too fussed, leave it chunky - it tastes the same either way!
Thanks for the lovely recipe I tried it out with my pasta yesterday. I always have plenty of tomatoes from the garden too. I make jams, dips, salads but there's always plenty left. Planning to make this simple sauce in large batches and freeze it.