Marinara sauce is a true concentrate of Italian style in a dish: sun, color, scents of summer and Mediterranean brush. Ready in no time, it’s the classic recipe that adds a magical touch to any course. Tomato – it goes without saying – is the main ingredient: big, juicy and rich in flavor, with a firm, crisp consistency that is bursting with aromas from the moment it’s cut. If you don’t have ripe tomatoes at your disposal, a ready-made passata is fine. It will provide the same satisfaction and be even faster!
The recipe for marinara sauce
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes or tomato passata, a clove of garlic, extra virgin olive oil, salt, dried oregano, a handful of fresh parsley washed and chopped. Alternatively, frozen parsley is perfect and will thaw once it comes in contact with the hot sauce.
Method:
Put the oil in a pan, peel the garlic clove, slice it and delicately brown it.
Once golden, add the washed and chopped tomatoes (or tomato passata), stir and leave to cook until they are reduced to a puree.
Stir well, season with salt and add parsley and oregano once the pan is removed from the heat.
Marinara sauce is perfect eaten hot, but is also great lukewarm.
The best way to enjoy marinara sauce
On pizza
Marinara sauce is the ideal condiment for topping pizza, which is known in turn as “pizza alla marinara.” In this case, it should be spread cold on the dough, without the aromatic herbs, to be added after cooking. This prevents them from releasing a bitter taste into the sauce. Spread the sauce abundantly on the rolled-out dough, bake in the oven at maximum temperature until cooked (it will take from 12 to 25 minutes), remove from the oven and finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, dried oregano and a handful of fresh parsley washed and chopped. If you love anchovies, add a few fillets in oil, capers and black olives to taste.
On meat
Another way to use this sauce is on slices of meat, such as turkey or beef. In this case the dish is called “carne alla pizzaiola” and is prepared by browning the slices of meat in a pan with oil and garlic for a few minutes. Once golden on both sides, add the marinara sauce and leave to cook for about 20 minutes. When the sauce has reduced and condensed, turn off the heat and add aromatic herbs. Serve the meat covered with this fragrant sauce.
On crostini
Pizza and meat, but that’s not all! Marinara sauce is also perfect for garnishing crispy crostini, for a sort of bruschetta, but with cooked tomatoes instead of raw. For the rest, the pleasure is really the same! Slice the bread, heat it in the oven for a few minutes until crisp, then cover with a tablespoon of marinara sauce. Serve the crostini as finger food.