Marinara Sauce

Marinara is now one of my pasta sauce, anything made of fresh tomatoes and basil, I like. Anyway, aside from that it is easy to make, Marinara Sauce is very healthy. Just think of the health benefits of red tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil combined. Put it all together, use less salt, you're good to enjoy a plate of pasta.

In making Marinara Sauce, think tomato soup. Only, Marinara is just a bit chunkier and has basil. My Marinara recipe is very basic and easy to make.

Important tool:

Blender/ hand blender

If you don't have a blender, replace whole peeled tomatoes with diced or simply triple the amount of red fresh tomatoes and mince it. Skip the blending process and just follow the Pasta Procedure by adding the diced or minced tomatoes and the chopped fresh basil with the tomato sauce.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole garlic (minced) and divided into 2 equal parts
• a handful or fresh basil (chopped)
• 5 fresh red tomatoes ( chopped)
• 1 cup mushrooms (any)
• 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 400g Rigatoni or any pasta of your choice (cooked)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese and a bit for toppings
• salt and ground pepper

Procedure: Marinara Sauce

• Drain the 2 cans of whole peeled tomatoes and place its contents in the blender.
• Add chopped fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and half of the minced garlic.
• Blend until smooth.
• Set aside in a separate bowl.

Procedure: Pasta

• In a sauce pan, heat olive oil and saute remaining minced garlic until light brown.
• Add mushrooms and saute for a few seconds.
• Add the cup of tomato sauce and simmer in low fire for about 15 seconds.
• Add the Marinara sauce part by part.
• Add cooked pasta and Parmesan cheese then mix everything until well- combined.
• Add salt and pepper to taste. 
• Plate the pasta and top with fresh basil or Parmesan cheese.

As a personal preference, I find Marinara fitting for white meat than beef or pork because of its natural flavor. I like chicken or tuna. From this recipe, you can add any meat of your choice. Anything that taste healthy can perfectly match another healthy item too, like vegetables.