Marinara Sauce & The Fourth Tenor

My sister called yesterday all excited that she had found a few vintage linens for me (for my Santas) at a church flea market. She got a queen sized pale green chenille bedspread for eight dollars and two yards of old tapestry fabric with fringe for fifty cents! Woohoo! Got to love my sister!

After yesterday’s pleasant afternoon outside with needle and thread, today is a little chilly. We are still using the woodstove at night. And we’re almost out of wood! We went through nearly six cords of wood over the winter. A few more days of below normal temperatures are on the way and then we’re back up to the 70s.

Today, we had marinara sauce and penne for lunch – along with breadsticks and salad. Here is my basic recipe for sauce that has evolved over the past thirty years:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 (28 oz.) can Italian plum tomatoes, cut up
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
6 oz. water
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon honey
3 teaspoons dried basil
2 teaspoons dried parsley

Heat oil in large skillet. Add chopped onion. Sauté a little and add garlic. When the onions get soft, add all other ingredients. Heat to just boiling, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least twenty minutes. Adjust the seasonings. Makes plenty.

The Fourth Tenor