Basic Marinara Using Pretty
Ingredients
- 1 tbl olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion (see notes)
- 10 cloves roasted garlic
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper
- 2x28oz cans crushed tomato
- 6 large fresh basil leaves (see notes)
- 1 tbl dried parsley
- 1/2 cup salted pasta water
- 1 pound dried noodles *
Preparation
Cut onion in half and remove skin but leave the root end and top on so that the onion stays together. Heat oil in a large pot. Add onion with the cut side down. Cook for 2 min to brown the onion face
Add tomato paste and crushed red pepper and cook for 3 min while stirring. Pour in crushed tomato, stir, bring to a simmer. Mash the roasted garlic into a paste. Stir in. Add half of the chopped fresh basil. Bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, for one hour. Stir occasionally
Discard onion and press against the side of the pot to squeeze out onion juice. Stir in the rest of the basil and add dried parsley. Bring pasta water to a boil and add 1/4 cup salt to water. Cook pasta to al dente. Scoop out 1/2 of the water before draining. Add reserved water to sauce
Put drained, not rinsed pasta, back into its pot. Add half of the marinara. Stir in and let sit with the noodles for 5 min. Add more sauce, mix in, and serve bowls with the remainder of the sauce
Don't have fresh basil? No problem. Use a total of 2 Tbl dried basil for this recipe. Divide as the recipe calls for in the two stages. Why add salt to water? It seasons the noodles as they cook. No one likes a bland noodle. Adding the water to the sauce gives it a glossy finish from the starch and some of the salt for flavoring
