Hi Guys! Today we have what we think is our best ever, marinara sauce! It’s so simple and delicious and only requires a few ingredients. One thing that makes our basic marinara sauce so awesome is that we use Troublemaker wine, by Hope Family Wines in Paso Robles, California. This wine is great because it’s a blend of multiple types of red including: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Petite Syrah and Zinfandel. The multi-vintage blend makes for a rich and bold wine that is fruit forward with notes of black cherries, raspberries and vanilla. It has a slightly smoky and black pepper finish to it that pleasantly lingers in the mouth. It’s a wonderful wine to use for cooking as well and I love it in our marinara sauce. It adds an element of depth to the deliciously simple sauce.
We also use marjoram in our sauce, instead of the typical oregano. I love the scent and flavor of marjoram and I like to call it the cousin of oregano. It has a mild, sweet pine and citrus flavor, that doesn’t overpower the tomatoes. This marinara sauce is so simple to make and you can seriously pour this stuff on anything! I love using it in my lasagnas, as a base for a complex red sauce and even as a dipping sauce for garlic bread, fried ravioli and more! Stay tuned to see what we decide to do with this yummy marinara sauce, this Friday! Enjoy! xx, Jenny
Marinara Sauce
Makes 3 to 4 cups
Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cup Troublemaker (red) wine (or another full flavored, fruity/smoky red wine of your choice)
2 tablespoons fresh minced marjoram
1 tablespoon fresh minced thyme
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Pour oil into a medium pot and place over medium heat. Add onion and sauté for 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add garlic and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Deglaze the pan with wine and simmer until the liquid has reduced by 1/2.
4. Stir in remaining ingredients and lower heat to medium-low. Simmer sauce for 30 minutes and adjust seasonings.
5. Pour sauce into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour sauce back into the pot and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve or can until ready to use.
I actually prefer a milder herb in marinara sauce as I find basil and oregano way too strong. I like to taste my tomatoes not hind them.
such a lovely red wine and that can of tomatoes are so pretty! the recipe might become favourite around here too.
All. Over. This.
Hey guys – I just wondered if you can freeze this sauce?
Also – sorry – I live in the UK and not sure I can get the brand of red wine mentioned here. Can you recommend a good alternative? thanks, Julie.
Knowing this type of blend is not the standard and that European wines tend to be more blend-restrictive, I would ask your wine purveyor for a young, ready-to-drink wine. Perhaps some suggestions they would make are a Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or Primitivo from Italy, or Rioja Crianza from Spain. All are typically young with softer tannins and are more fruit-forward. Cheers.
Great thanks for the advice! Much appreciated!
James, you can always buy Troublemaker off our website. Thanks for the interest!
http://www.hopefamilywines.com
I love that you used marjoram- it’s like the forgotten herb sometimes, but so underrated!
Gimme! Gimme!gimme! I am known to eat marinera straight up with a spoon and some parm on top! Hey, it’s easy than spaghetti and sauce is the best part anyways!
Julie Roberts, it seems like this should be easy to freeze since it doesn’t have cheese or cream included. If you use the zipper food storage bags and remove the air, it should keep for quite some time. I made a similar sauce and froze it (separate from some meatballs) for my sister-in-law after she had my niece, and it thawed nicely.
Thank you!
Fresh & simple marinara is one of the best foods on the planet, isn’t it? I also use marjoram and wholeheartedly endorse it!
You’re making me HUUNNGGRRYYYY! :)
xx
Rachael of THE PARADERS
A good Marinara sauce is a thing to hang your hat on. It looks so easy but so many people get it wrong. This looks fabulous. Love the idea of majorem over oregano. Will try that next time I knock up a batch.
I just want to dip a crusty piece of French bread in that pot!!! This sauce looks scrumptious!
It must be very nice with all the spices.
Wow, marjoram sounds great and I love San Marzano tomatoes, so good!!
Love. This.
I cannot wait to make this!
Looks delicious! :D
Thank you! This is so easy and i’ll stop buying cans ones :)
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If I have someone in the house who doesn’t do wine (even when cooked), what kind of liquid could I replace it with? Just veggie broth? Or water? Water doesn’t seem quite right, since it wouldn’t have any flavor…
I was looking for an alternative as well. After doing some reading, I found alternatives such as Cranberry juice or Pomegranate juice. For the de-glazing, add 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar per cup of juice used. I used Cran-Pom with the red wine vinegar and it worked good for us.
So many ways to use this sauce..
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Sometimes simple is best, and nothing beats simple homemade sauce.