Marinara

Quick Look_______________

This recipe comes from Dung Tran. Our group (acts2fellowship gold) actually used a similar recipe when we went to Yosemite and alot of people liked it. It's a fairly basic sauce and it's easy to make. Use whatever noodles you like, the picture above is penne.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 1/2 - 1 hour
• Difficulty: Easy
• Labor Intensity: Could do by yourself, but 3-4 helpers would be good.
• 25 servings, adjust by 1.5x if your group tends to eat multiple servings.

Ingredients_______________

• 1.5 cups extra virgin olive oil (I like Berkeley Bowl's Organic olive oil at $10 for a 3 cup bottle)
• 3 bunches of garlic (about $1.50 at safeway)
• 1 large can (6.5lbs) of diced or crushed tomatos (about $4 at costco, $5-6 at smart and final)
• any herbs (I like sweet basil)
• pinch of salt and pepper (to taste)
• 6lbs of pasta (I like linguine for this, but any will do, about $5 for a 4lb pack at smart and final)
• Total: about $25

Directions_______________

• You will need a large stock pot.
• Crush garlic with the side of your knife using palm of your hand.
• Chop garlic into coarse pieces.
• Add all the garlic to the pot
• On low to low/medium heat add a little oil and stir until light brown.
• Add can of tomatos and remaining oil and turn heat up to medium.
• Add some herbs, whatever you like, to taste. I like sweet basil and a little rosemary.
• Cook the sauce until it starts bubbling a little and turn down heat to just below bubbling, stir for about 10-20 minutes or until desired taste.
• Add salt and pepper to taste
• Serve with cooked pasta noodles

Tom's Tips and Tricks_______________

Use fresh garlic. I wrote a post on why it is better than pre-processed garlic. If you use the pre-peeled garlic, use about 50% more.

Make sure the oil isn't too hot, it will destroy the delicate flavors in the oil and burn the garlic.

You can use dried herbs, but fresh is better. Use what you have. Season it however you want, my personal recommendation is to make it a little salty, don't be afraid to add it, just don't go overboard. Salt tends to bring out other flavors and can make the herbs taste more intense.

The tomato sauce will be acidic, when you boil it, the acid boils off or breaks down and it becomes smoother as time goes on. Cook until it isn't sour. You could add sugar to make it less sour, but that's not as good as cooking it longer under low heat.

[Possible side dish] some kind of salad/vegetable dish, bread rolls