Homemade Marinara Sauce

The key to a truly amazing pasta dish is a good marinara sauce. While there are plenty of good store-bought options out there that will do in a pinch, a homemade tomato sauce makes a huge difference. Making your own pasta sauce is a lot easier than you may think. My frugal shortcut is to use canned tomatoes. I like using either diced or even crushed tomatoes. If whole canned tomatoes are cheaper, grab those and give them a good chop before you add them to the pan.

Marinara Sauce

• 1 can (35 oz) diced tomatoes
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion

Place olive oil into a large sauce pan. Heat the oil and add the garlic; saute until garlic is fragrant.
Add the basil, parsley and red pepper flakes.
Let the mixture warm up and add the tomatoes in their liquid.
Cook for 1 hour over medium heat.

Serve immediately, or cool and pour into glass jars with good lids.  This sauce may be refrigerated or frozen for later use.

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