Italian marinara sauce was invented by ship coca several centuries ago. The sailors were attracted by the versatile taste of this sauce made from ripe tomatoes, with which both macaroni, meat, and seafood were tastier. In addition, marinara sauce has another advantage that is important for those who do not have the opportunity to cook often - a long shelf life. All these advantages of the sauce are in demand today, and not only by Italian sailors, but by cooks from all over the world.
Cooking Features
Cooking in the open sea is not an easy task, difficult to prepare dishes are unlikely to be loved by coca. It is not difficult to guess that any hostess can make marinara sauce, even if she has very little culinary experience. You just need to know a few subtleties known to professional chefs.
- Ripe and fleshy tomatoes are best suited for marinara sauce, although there are recipes that allow you to make it from green tomatoes. In this case, it is desirable to clear the tomatoes from the skin, because only in this case, the sauce will have a delicate texture. It will be quite easy to peel off the skin if you make cross-shaped cuts on the tomatoes and dip the fruits in boiling water for literally two minutes. After that, it will remain to cool the vegetables, shifting into cold water. After this procedure, four seconds will be enough to peel the tomato.
- Tomatoes are best chopped through a sieve. In this case, even the seeds will not fall into the sauce. However, kitchen appliances can also be used. The meat grinder with a special nozzle is best suited, but it can be used without a nozzle. Many housewives chop the tomato flesh with a blender, this is also an acceptable option.
- The marinara sauce will have a long shelf life only if it is mothballed. For this purpose it is necessary to use glass jars which are previously required to be sterilized. Banks should be closed tightly using screw caps or metal, twisted with a special key. In this case, the sauce can be kept at room temperature, and for a year it will remain usable while maintaining its original flavor. However, if you put the prepared sauce in a plastic container, you will have to eat it within 5 days, and even then only if it is stored in the refrigerator.
- When cooking sauce, tomatoes can burn. To avoid this, it is necessary to constantly stir. It should be borne in mind that thick-walled dishes with a thick bottom are most suitable for making marinara sauce.
Marinara sauce can be served with fish, meat, pasta, side dishes from different cereals. It can also be used for cooking other dishes, including for dressing soups.
Classic Marinara Sauce Recipe
Composition:
- tomatoes - 1, 5 kg;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- dry red wine - 50 ml;
- lemon - 0, 5 pcs .;
- dry Italian herbs - 5 g;
- sugar - 15 g;
- olive oil - 20 ml;
- salt, red pepper - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash tomatoes. Pour with boiling water or, even better, lower it for a minute in boiling water, first criss-crossing the skin. Cool and clean. Cut into several pieces, at the same time cutting off the dense light area near the stem.
- Turn tomatoes into mashed potatoes by rubbing through a sieve or using kitchen appliances specifically designed to perform such tasks.
- Cut the garlic into small pieces.
- Pour oil on the bottom of the pan. Heat it and put garlic in it. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Pour tomato paste into the pan. Over low heat, stirring constantly, bring it to a boil.
- Add Italian herbs and sugar, stir.
- While stirring constantly, reduce the tomato mass until the desired consistency is obtained. When the sauce thickens enough, pour the wine into it.
- After cooking the sauce for another 5 minutes, squeeze the juice from half a lemon into it. Make sure that the lemon stones do not get into the sauce.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes, taste it. Salted and pepper. Salt and pepper sauce marinara should be only at the last stage of cooking, otherwise there is a risk of making it salty or too spicy, because in the process of cooking it will decrease significantly.
- Pour the sauce over sterilized jars if you make it for the future, or just cool it. After that, or, rolling up, store for storage in the pantry, or put in the refrigerator.
From the amount of ingredients indicated in the recipe, you get about a liter of sauce. It is important to know those who preserve it for the winter.
Marinara Sauce with Balsamic Vinegar
Composition:
- tomatoes - 1 kg;
- onions - 0, 2 kg;
- honey - 20 ml;
- balsamic vinegar - 50 ml;
- garlic - 2 cloves;
- olive oil - 80 ml;
- bay leaf - 3 pcs .;
- salt, pepper, oregano - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Wash the tomatoes. Peel them with boiling water, peel off. Pulp cut into small pieces of arbitrary shape.
- Remove the husks from the bulbs, cut them into small cubes.
- Cut the garlic cloves into plates not too thin.
- Melt the honey to a liquid state.
- Heat the butter in a saucepan and put the garlic in it. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic plates from the oil, discard. Turn down the heat.
- Place the onion in the butter. Fry it on low heat until it is completely transparent.
- Add the tomatoes along with the juice that is made of them. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Lightly cool the resulting mass and rub it through a sieve. If desired, it can be pureed with an immersion blender.
- Add salt, pepper, oregano and melted honey to the tomato mass. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
- Pour in balsamic vinegar, stir, cook for another two minutes.
- Remove the saucepan from the fire. Put laurel leaves on the sauce. After 10 minutes, remove them, mix the sauce. If you are going to keep it for a long time, boil it again. If you are going to eat the sauce in the near future, you do not need to boil it again. Let it cool at room temperature, after which it can be refrigerated.
Thanks to vinegar and onions, this marinara sauce acquires unique flavors, it doesn’t look very much like a classic recipe.
Green Tomato Marinara Sauce
Composition:
- green tomatoes - 2 kg;
- onions - 150 g;
- garlic - 5 cloves;
- carrots - 0, 2 kg;
- lemon juice - 40 ml;
- olive oil - 20 ml;
- sugar - 20 g;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Method of preparation:
- Peel the onions. Cut it into small cubes.
- Peel carrots, wash and grate on a coarse grater.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan and sauté the onions and carrots in it until soft. After that, turn the steamed vegetables into a mashed potatoes using a blender.
- Wash tomatoes, chop them and turn them through a meat grinder.
- Pass the garlic through the press.
- Mix tomato puree with onions, carrots and garlic. Add sugar.
- Place the resulting mixture in a saucepan with a thick bottom and boil it for half an hour, stirring constantly so that the vegetables do not burn.
- After this time, pour lemon juice into the sauce, add salt and pepper to taste. Cook for another 5 minutes.
The sauce can be eaten as soon as it cools or closed for the winter. In the latter case, it is poured into prepared banks, without cooling, sealed, cooled in an inverted form under warm clothes, and then cleaned in the closet or cellar. Compared with the classic marinara sauce, the appetizer made from green tomatoes has a more savory flavor.
Marinara sauce is suitable for all dishes and is well kept. If you like it, you can close several cans for the winter. In the cold season, you will more than once rejoice that you have it in stock.
