This is a quick and easy recipe for marinara sauce. In fact, it is so easy that it was one of the first sauces my Mother taught me at an early age, twelve to be precise. The ingredients are few and found on most pantry shelves. It works as an excellent base for other tomato sauce dishes. For example, just by adding meatballs and simmering for half an hour to an hour, you have a delicious spaghetti sauce. To make my sauce even meatier, I often add, along with the meatballs, Italian link sausage, that I brown first and then add to the sauce. Also, sliced mushrooms are another addition.

When in need as an appetizer dipping sauce, you can’t beat this recipe.

Great as a side condiment for dipping fried chicken fingers, fried zucchini and fried breaded mozzarella balls. This is the basic topping for pizza and can also be used for the topping on chicken or veal Parmigiano.

Since children love pizza, this would be a great recipe to teach young children some of the techniques in cooking. It is easy for them to learn and can be topped on ready-made pizza dough purchased at the bakery of your grocery store. Sprinkle on shredded mozzarella cheese, bake in a 500 degree oven and they will feel like a true chef. Another simple way they can fix pizza is using the sauce as a topping on toasted English Muffins, cover with mozzarella cheese and bake in a hot oven until the cheese melts.

The recipe that follows can be doubled or tripled and refrigerate or freeze leftovers.

Ingredients:

• 2 28-oz can whole crushed tomatoes with basil
• 4 fresh Italian plum tomatoes quartered
• 3 cloves garlic finely minced
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbs flat leaf parsley chopped
• 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
• Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. In medium saucepan, coat bottom of pan with olive oil. Heat till hot.
2. Add garlic and sauté until soft.
   
3. Add fresh cut-up tomatoes, sauté until tomatoes are heated through.
   
4. Add canned crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil, oregano, parsley, and Italian seasonings.
   
5. Mix thoroughly.
6. Cover saucepan and cook over low heat for 40 minutes.