LIDIA BASTIANICH'S MARINARA SAUCE
PG TESTED
With tomatoes, it's feast or famine. During the feast of their short season, the uses of fresh tomatoes are endless. The sometimes nine-month famine poses this often-asked question, "If I can't get fresh tomatoes, how can I make a good marinara sauce for pasta?"
Chef and author Lidia Bastianich has good advice. "The choices of canned tomatoes include crushed tomatoes and peeled tomatoes in tomato puree," she says. "Each will give a different intensity and density in the finished sauce. The most important thing to remember is to use a product that reads Pomodori Pelati di San Marzano (peeled tomatoes from San Marzano, near Naples). A label that reads "Italian style" does not indicate authenticity or country of origin but rather a style of preparation.
Ms. Bastianich is the reigning queen of all things Italian, and she ought to know. Her recipe for Marinara Sauce makes enough for six servings of pasta.
-- Marlene Parrish
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 8 garlic cloves, crushed
- 35-ounce can peeled Italian plum tomatoes, seeded and lightly crushed, with their liquid
- Salt
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- 10 fresh basil leaves, washed, dried and roughly torn
In a medium-size saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Carefully add the tomatoes and their liquid. Bring to a boil and season lightly with salt and pepper flakes.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, breaking up the tomatoes with a whisk as they cook, until the sauce is chunky and thick, about 20 minutes. About 5 minutes before the sauce is finished, stir in the basil. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper flakes, if necessary.
-- "Lidia's Italian Table" by Lidia Bastianich
First Published: May 23, 2007, 10:15 p.m.
