Marinara Sauce

I like to have marinara on hand to make quick work of weeknight dinners...

angel hair pasta on hand? Dinner ready in no time....

You have some eggplant on hand? 

slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices,  put it in a colander in the sink, sprinkle on some kosher salt  - let sit 30 minutes (removes any bitter taste) rinse and pat dry, brush on some olive oil, grill eggplant 4 minutes per side, put eggplant slices in a casserole dish, layer the eggplant and marinara, sprinkle with cheese. Heat until bubbly and browned at 350 degrees, about 20-30 minutes. ( if you had some ricotta on hand layer some of that in there too, or some panko bread crumbs mixed with some melted butter for some crunch!)

Marinara Sauce:

4 tsp olive oil
2- 28 oz cans whole italian tomatoes, drained, but RESERVE LIQUID
1 sweet yellow onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano, divided
2 teaspoons dried basil, divided
6 cloves garlic
kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
4-6 leaves fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat it with olive oil cooking spray. Place the onions and the whole tomatoes on the center of the sheet, reserving the juice for later. Slide the garlic cloves inside the tomatoes - this protects the garlic from burning and infuses the tomato with roasted garlic flavor. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp oregano and 1 tsp dried basil all over the tomatoes along with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle with olive oil and place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tomatoes, onions and garlic are tender, sweet and juicy. Be careful not to over cook them because the tomatoes will dry up.

Once they are roasted , remove from the oven and place in a dutch oven. Over medium low heat combine roasted tomatoes, and onions, reserved liquid from the tomatoes that you drained and reserved from earlier, sugar, and remaining dried oregano and dried basil. Puree the mixture with an immersion blender. Simmer, covered, for at least two hours. Add the fresh basil and parsley.