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Penne pasta with Marinara Sauce with Pecorino Romano cheese.

Pasta With Basic Marinara Sauce

A simple and relatively fast-cooked meatless marinara tomato sauce recipe.
Course Entree
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes
Servings 8 people
Author Christopher

Ingredients

  • 1 lb pasta
  • 4 tablespoons butter (I recommend Kerrygold Irish butter)
  • 1 medium sweet onion (diced)
  • 1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
  • 2 cloves garlic (chopped finely or minced)
  • 28 ounces whole peeled plum tomatoes (San Marzano are my favorite)
  • 1 celery stalk (chopped into half inch pieces)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to taste

Instructions

Sauce:

  1. In a large sauce pot, saute onions in the butter for five minutes.

  2. Add tomato paste and chopped garlic. Saute five more minutes. Don't overcook the garlic. The tomato paste should begin to brown and darken to help it release its flavors.

  3. Add tomatoes. After 10 minutes, chop the tomatoes in the pot. Add celery and simmer on low for 30 minutes. Be sure to keep the mixture mixed so it doesn’t stick to the pot or to itself.

  4. After 30 minutes, pass the mixture through a food mill or puree in a blender.

  5. Move the pureed mixture back to the sauce pot. Add basil. Simmer for 20 more minutes.

  6. Correct the salt and pepper seasoning.

Pasta:

  1. Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and strain the pasta.
  2. Put pasta back into the pot over low heat.
  3. Add the reserved pasta water to uniformly coat the pasta.
  4. Dress the pasta with the sauce, reserving one cup of sauce for later.

  5. Stir the pasta well, allowing each noodle to be lightly coated with the sauce.

  6. Turn out the pasta into a large serving bowl. Top with the reserved sauce.

  7. Garnish with some Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and serve.