This is a simple, fresh and frugal recipe for marinara sauce. My Italian sister-in-law made this for us and I absolutely fell in love with it. Serve it on it’s own with pasta or add your favorite meatballs. Or use it for Chicken or Eggplant Parmesan.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Half of a medium onion (white or yellow)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 carrot
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (preferably sea salt)
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper (freshly ground if possible)
- 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
Finely chop onion, garlic, celery and carrot.
Heat oil and sauté onion and garlic until translucent.
Add the celery, carrot, salt and pepper and sauté until soft.
Add tomatoes and bay leaf. Cover and simmer on low for 45-60 minutes.
Discard the bay leaf and serve.
Notes
Instead of purchasing crushed tomatoes, try a can of whole tomatoes and puree them yourself. They’re usually a lot cheaper and I think they taste fresher than the pureed. I think you’ll notice the difference too.
Don’t bother peeling those carrots! It cuts down on your prep time and there are tons of nutrients in those skins. No one will notice the difference, trust me!
Cost: Less than $4 (Including a box of whole wheat pasta)
Cooking time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Number of servings: 4
Hi, I’m Cathy! I’m a former career-driven professional turned stay-at-home mom. Living on one salary has its challenges, but it is possible to live the good life while spending less. Cool to be Frugal is all about how we’re thriving, not just surviving, on a single income.
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Awesome recipe…. I make a very similar sauce but I also add peppers in the initial base and I use fresh tomatoes as they are much cheaper here. I then use a hand blender directly in the pan and it works a treat.
I call it a base sauce and use it for pasta as is, for base of curries, add more veggies for a stew or as a base for chilli. It’s very versatile and extremely cheap!
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