Just say "NO" to jarred marinara sauce!

Once upon the days of old, I purchased jarred marinara sauce. It was the easy thing to do. I needed at least two jars in order to feed my family of five and that got expensive. It was also annoying when I found one we liked and it wasn't available the next time I needed it. It was time to go back to homemade with a new recipe.

Of course, I turned to Pinterest! I found a recipe there and I was so excited because it was the same recipe mentioned in an old Nicholas Sparks book I read years back (I big puffy heart adore his books) (the name of the book escapes me) but never tried.

My version is different than the original:

My Just say "NO" to jarred marinara sauce recipe:

2 28 oz cans of crushed tomatoes (no brand preference)
1 14.5 oz can of petite diced tomato (optional, I don't always add it, but when I do petite is a must)
1 stick of unsalted butter (no, do not substitute salted butter)
1 medium white onion with the skin off and cut in half
1 teaspoon of salt

Now...throw all of this into a single pot and put the burner on medium/low. Let it cook for about 45 minutes. Just before you serve the sauce, fish out the onion and add about a teaspoon of salt (seriously just a teaspoon, if it needs more after you taste it, go for it but start small).

I make this weekly. I usually use it for my spinach lasagna (which I'll have to post some day, which uses no-bake pasta!) or my spinach-meat sauce (just add 2 boxes of frozen spinach that has been cooked and thoroughly drained along with a pound of cooked ground beef that has been salted prior to going into the pot).

The butter wraps around your tongue and makes the tomato taste fresh from the garden. It has just the right amount of onion flavor without the chunks.

Try it and let me know how it goes!