Homemade marinara

When I came home I ventured out to the garden and was a bit shocked to find this:

I picked 50 ripe tomatoes off of three tomato plants. Yes, 50. In fact, there are another dozen or so that I could have picked but didn't because it started raining on me. I hate seeing food go to waste so I decided to try and make a dent in the pile by making homemade marinara sauce. I am a self-proclaimed marinara and pizza sauce snob. In my opinion, so many tomato-based sauces are way over spiced and that is all you end up tasting. I found a recipe from trusty old Food Network and I am not kidding when I say it is one of the very best things I have ever made. I modified the recipe to use fresh tomatoes. Basically the same process, but I had to take the skin off of the tomatoes by boiling them for a few minutes first.

I topped some penne with the sauce and added big chunks of fresh mozzerella and it was sooooo good. (Yes, it was good enough that I actually took a picture-- I know I'm a total nerd.)

I froze the leftover sauce in freezer bags and will definitely be using it again soon. Try it!

Quick Marinara Sauce
From Food Network Kitchens

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 medium onion, diced (about 3 tablespoons)
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 (28-ounce) cans whole, peeled, tomatoes, roughly chopped
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small bunch fresh basil, leaves chopped
2 teaspoons kosher salt (use a lot less if using table salt)
Freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion and garlic, stirring, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with about half of their juices (discarding the rest), the herb sprigs and basil and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for about 25 to 30 minutes or until thickened.