Secret Romano Marinara [red sauce]

I am 100% Italian as far back as we know. Maiden name- Romano. My dad’s side- Sicilian and my mom’s from Northern Italy. My mom knows. how. to cook. and my dad – is the pickiest Italian man on the planet (but knows good food!). You can trust this sauce is delish, authentic + honestly, quite simple. We make it in large batches and throw it in the freezer, this way every time we cook we don’t have to make a fresh batch. It would be a sin in our house to use sauce from a jar- I think my parents would disown me entirely so I’ve learned freezing in batches DEFINITELY helps. There are variations of this sauce- she has a meat sauce, fish sauce, vodka sauce- it goes on and on but for today- lets start with the basic marinara sauce. 

ingredients 

• 3-4 Tbsp of olive oil [enough to coat bottom of the pot]
• 3-4 Cloves fresh galic, chopped
• 1-2 Tbsp of sugar [we typically use 1.5 Tbsp sugar but you can sub 2 tsp Truvia]
• 1 20oz can of Progresso whole tomatoes w/ basil [you can also use fresh tomatoes if you’re really feeling adventurous- we mostly use Progresso]
• 1 Tsp dried or fresh basil

recipe

1. Pour tomatoes into blender and blend just for a few seconds, until finely chopped
2. In a medium sized saucepan, saute garlic and oil. Do not let garlic brown.
3. Pour in blended tomatoes and add remaining ingredients.
4. Salt and Pepper to taste
5. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20-30 min

That’s it! Kinda silly that people are terrified of making homemade sauce when you see how easy it is! I think the biggest mistake is too many ingredients. Over seasoning is a real thing folks + sometimes simple is best.

-The Romano + Neilan Family-