MEALS IN ADVANCE: Marinara Sauce

It has been cookie week in my house. Girl Scout cookies were delivered and I have to get them to parents, do booths and get my own child’s delivered. Weeks like this are when I am so glad I have things in the freezer that are ready to go for a quick meal.

A basic marinara sauce is simple to make and has a wide range of possibilities. Once you thaw the sauce, you can add cheese, pepper flakes and vegetables to change it up from one meal to another. Making your own also allows the a cook to adjust it according to their own tastes. Preparing it in the slow cooker is simple and it will simmer as you do a hard day’s work. At the end of the day you have several quarts to freeze and dinner for tonight nearly done.

INGREDIENTS:
2 28 oz cans Diced Tomatoes
2 28 oz cans Tomatoes sauce
Oil
8 Garlic Cloves smashed and chopped
1 medium Yellow Onion diced
1/8 tsp Salt
2 Tb dried Parsley
2 Tb dried Oregano
2 Tb dried Basil
2 tsp Salt
Salt to taste

TOOLS: 4 qt Slow Cooker

Drizzle oil in a pan, when hot add the onions, garlic and 1/8 tsp salt. Saute until the onions are clear.

In the slow cooker, mix the onions and all the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Depending on the sauce and tomatoes that you use, season with salt according to taste. Some brand have more sodium than others and you want the sauce to absorb all the other flavors before you add more.

Allow the sauce to cool completely! This takes a little time so stir it occasionally. I like to freeze my sauce in jars, it makes it easy to measure, however you can also use bags. Keep stirring it every few minutes to speed up the process. I find that the sauce will thicken more as it cools. Keep in mind, if you are placing the sauce into canning jars it WILL expand so give yourself at least 1 inch of headroom.

This batch produced 4 1/2 quarts of sauce for the freezer.

uses:
Classic Pizza
Bubblin Pizza Casserole
Pasta dishes
Chicken Parmesan
Chicken Cacciatore
Dipping Sauces