Marinara Sauce

I've made many marinara sauces in my day, but tonight's was by far the best...if I do say so myself! It wasn't the fastest or simplest, but was the tastiest...every member of my family of five agreed! I found a few online that looked promising and tweaked and combined them.

Here's the recipe that is sure to become an heirloom in my clan.

Ingredients

• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, packed in juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/3 cup dry red wine, such as Chianti or Merlot
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar, as needed (varies due to your canned tomato's acidity)

Instructions

1. Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard the cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside 3/4 cup of the tomatoes from the strainer. Set aside 2 1/2 cups of the tomato juice...discard remainder.
   
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until simmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around the edges, 6-8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds.
3. Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of the pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10-12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8-10 minutes.
4. Transfer sauce to food processor (or insert immersion blender) and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses. Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

The photo above is from bramblings blog...here's a link to see her step by step guide to canning tomatoes!