Home made Marinara sauce

Tonight we had company for dinner and I made my old faithful standby, Lasagna. I always make my own sauce and I use a recipe for Marinara sauce that I got from the Food Network channel a couple of years back, I don't remember who's show this recipe is from but it is absolutely wonderful in that it is insanely easy but tastes like it took you all day! This sauce has had a home in my recipe box ever since. I even like to make it and keep it in jars just to have on hand. I wanted to share this recipe with you because I just love it so much, it's perfect for Manicotti , Lasagna, Spaghetti and is especially delicious to serve as a dipping sauce with a cheesy garlic bread, very easy to whip up as a quick appetizer when you have a few people over and is always a huge hit for me.

Tonight I also made a Sally Lunn bread with a buttery basil and garlic spread...baking this bread brought back so many memories from my childhood. I can still remember my mom baking up a batch of this to take to an ailing mother, a church potluck, for company or a ladies luncheon...the smell of this delicious stuff would just fill the house and make all of us kids come clamoring into the kitchen for a bite of this fluffy and sweet bread. Today however, the smell had my hubby hovering the kitchen like a UFO...Isabella even roused out of her nap when the wafting began :)

Ok, enough jabbering from me, here's the Marinara recipe!

1/3 C. good olive oil
1 C. minced onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 lbs. of ripe tomatoes, cored and peeled into 1-inch pieces or 2 (28-ounce) cans of plum tomatoes, drained
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil, add onion an cook for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes, pinch of sugar and salt and pepper and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture through the fine disk of a food mill (or food processor or blender) and then return to the saucepan. Reduce for 15 minutes. See how easy that is?! Love it!

Now, the recipe doesn't call for this, but I always add fresh basil to mine whenever it comes time to puree, I just love the taste of fresh basil! enjoy :)