Thursday, June 12, 2014

Marinara Sauce

My mother almost always made marinara sauce from scratch when I was little, so it's pretty much the only way I will eat it.  Here's my best approximation of her recipe.

Marinara Sauce

1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion minced
2-4 cloves minced garlic
8 ounces mushrooms
2 (15 ounce) cans tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 1/2 - 3 teaspoons oregano
2 1/2 - 3 teaspoons basil
2 teaspoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

Brown ground beef, drain.  Put olive oil in pan, saute onions until translucent, add garlic and mushrooms and saute a few more minutes, being careful not to burn garlic.  Add tomato sauce, tomatoes, spices and ground beef.  Simmer for at least ten minutes for flavors to mingle.

I use about half of this and freeze the rest, but my little penguins still don't eat a whole lot.  I think this covers about 2 one pound boxes of pasta, but depending on how saucy you like your pasta, it could be less or more.