Homemade Marinara Sauce

I had last Friday off and I decided I would work ahead a bit to make meals easier during the week. I wanted to make some things I could put in the freezer and pull out the morning I need them to put together dinner quickly that night. So I decided to make a double batch of whole wheat pizza dough, homemade marinara sauce, baked chicken that I shredded to use in quesadillas, chicken salad, etc. and some bread which I'll post later this week.

For the marinara sauce I was going to search for recipes, but I decided to just use what I had on hand and try and make one up on my own. I had all the ingredients right in my pantry so it made it easy to throw together. I just used things typically found in italian cuisine. It tasted great! I originally added a bit too much salt and garlic so I tweaked that in the recipe below. Since I had a bit too much of those flavors, I added a little red wine vinegar to mine to balance out the saltiness. So easy and I just put it in a ziploc bag, labeled and put it in the freezer to use later this week for pizza. I'm sure it would be great over pasta as well.

Homemade Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 vidalia onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 can italian diced tomatoes, or crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp. italian seasoning

1/8 tsp. kosher salt

1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Pinch of sugar

Directions:

Place skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil, onions and garlic. Saute until onions are transluscent and lightly turning golden brown. Pour in tomatoes, add italian seasoning, pinch sugar, salt & pepper. Bring to boil, then simmer for approx. 15 minutes. Taste & add more seasonings if needed. Lightly press sauce with back of spoon to crush tomatoes further for a less chunky sauce, if desired (or you could put it in a food processor and pulse a few times if you wanted a really smooth sauce). Spread on pizza crust or spoon over pasta.

If freezing: Allow to cool completely. Pour into freezer bag and make sure you get all air out. Label and place in freezer & just pull out and place it in the refrigerator to thaw the morning you need it.