Homemade Marinara (it's cheap too!)

We're on a bit of a tight budget lately, so I'm up to my old tricks in making everything from scratch.  I found this article in Good Housekeeping a few years ago that I clipped and, for some reason, I never used it.  So, as I was digging through my recipe bag (yes, it is a ziplock bag, and no, I don't intend to change my "system" any time soon) this morning looking for a totally different recipe, I pulled out this gem and put it to good use immediately.

Turns out, it is absolutely delicious!  I changed it up a bit and just used the basic idea, so here is the new and improved version.  Most people have their own tomato sauce recipe, but if you feel like changing it up a bit, try this one.  It costs about 47 cents a serving (versus $1.50 per serving of the bottled sauce, on average).

Marinara:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed with press

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes in juice (you can also use whole tomatoes)

Salt and pepper

1 tsp dried basil (or 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil, chopped)

Five fresh sprigs of thyme (leaves removed, of course)

Dash of marjoram

1/2 tsp oregano

In a 4 quart saucepan, heat oil over medium heat until hot.  Add onion and cook until tender, about 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in garlic and tomato paste; cook 1 minute.  Stir in tomatoes with their juice, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper; heat to boiling over high heat, breaking up tomatoes with back of spoon if you have used whole tomatoes.  Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.  Stir in herbs.  If not using right away, transfer to a container with tight fitting lid and refrigerate up to three days or cool 30 minutes and freeze up to 3 months.  Makes enough to coat 1lb cooked pasta.

Personally, I am letting the flavors mellow in the fridge overnight and we'll have it tomorrow night for dinner with browned meat and some veggies to make a primavera.  I'm sure we could get fancier than canned tomatoes and tomato paste, but this is what I had in the pantry and it is actually quite inexpensive to be so tasty.

(Like my lid?  My aunt bought this one for me, but I've seen it online here.)