Need a 20-minute weeknight meal that you can make from the pantry?

Look no further. The freshness of this marinara sauce makes any pasta dish deceptively fancy. Once you make it, you’ll never go back to the jarred pasta sauce again.

Classic Marinara Sauce

Yield: 3 1/4 cups       Prep time: 5-10 minutes       Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
1 28 oz can of San Marzano tomatoes*
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more to add to sauce if desired
⅓ cup finely minced onion (I like using our seasonal sweet onions or a shallot)
2 large garlic cloves, finely minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon raw cane sugar (or a few dashes of stevia in the raw)
¼ teaspoon dried oregano, plus fresh sprigs for garnish if desired
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, crush the tomatoes with your hands. Fill the empty can with 1 cup of water and add it to the bowl. Set the tomatoes aside.
2. Heat a medium sized pot on the stove. Drizzle 2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil in the skillet until the bottom of the pot is evenly coated. Sauté the garlic and minced onion over medium heat until fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes in water, balsamic vinegar, sugar, oregano, and red pepper flakes to the pot. Give the sauce a stir. It’s optional, but I like to drizzle a little more olive oil depending on what I am making to add to the depth of flavor.
4. Simmer, mindful of the heat, and stir until the oil forms on the surface and is a dark orange. Use this time to boil the pasta according to the package. If you can find fresh in the refrigerator isle of your super market…go for it! The sauce is usually ready in 20 minutes depending on the size of skillet you use. Add a little more oregano, pepper or salt depending on taste.
5. Mix the sauce with fresh spaghetti in a pre-warmed bowl immediately after the pasta is cooked and drained. Serve with a side salad tossed in a light vinaigrette. Enjoy!

Tips:

* San Marzano tomatoes are the all-stars in this marinara sauce. In fact, in Italy, they strictly label the tomato cans with its authentic region much like the French brand a bottle of champagne. So, in an attempt to be a gourmet sleuth, I drove all the way into the city, paid $8 for parking, found the tomatoes at a little Italian market, was stuck in an hour of traffic and made it just in time before my family of test tasters arrived. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Then a friend told me that Trader Joe’s sells San Marzano tomatoes. I should have known.