This marinara is the best!

Originally Published 09/15/2020

Somehow, every jar tastes garden-fresh, sun-ripened, like you just picked the tomatoes off the vine! I’ve made this marinara at the end of every summer for the last few years. During the winter it is like a little bit of sunshine in a jar! It makes great spaghetti. I’ve even used it to make chili! Our favorite way to eat it though is to dip our homemade stromboli in it!  This marinara is a pantry staple favorite for sure!

First, you need to find some tomatoes!

The recipe does call for twelve pounds of tomatoes. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a successful garden and all the tomatoes you’ll ever need! If not though, don’t worry! Every year, I have been able to find enough at local roadside veggie stands. The tomatoes at these places have better flavor, are better quality, and are much more cost-effective than buying from the grocery store! 

This year I was able to get around twenty-four pounds for only $15 at Sadies Country Store. If you are local to Clarksville and haven’t checked them out you should! They have a lot of produce, eggs, bread, and various other things! 

Before you can can, you must blanch!

No skin is allowed in this marinara! Blanching is a quick way to loosen the skin of the tomatoes to make them easier to peel. I like to cut the stem and core out of my tomatoes first before giving them a quick dip in the pot of boiling water. Two to three minutes is really all it takes and then you can fish them back out and allow them to cool down some before peeling off the skin. 

I really just love how beautiful they look all lined up and peeled!

Once they’re peeled and ready to go, just throw them in a food processor in batches, purée, and then pour each batch in a big stockpot. Add in all your spices and start simmering your sauce!

Roasted garlic really gives this marinara a lovely depth.

One year I forgot to roast the garlic so I just threw it in there minced up fresh. It made the sauce bitter and terrible! Roasting the garlic first calms down the flavor and adds a caramelized sweetness to it. This is definitely an essential step! Also a super easy one! Turn your oven on to 400 degrees. Take your garlic and peel away some of the layers of skin, not all of them though, you still want it to be held together. Cut the top off, exposing most of the pieces inside. Place the garlic bulb in the center of a square of tinfoil and drizzle with olive oil. Fold the tinfoil up over it nice and tight and place it in the oven for around forty minutes. Once it’s done, let it cool, squish out the garlic, and it’s ready to be minced up and added to your marinara! Easy and delicious!

Do not be afraid to simmer this sauce for a few hours.

Last year when I made this, I got impatient and didn’t let the sauce simmer long enough. Tomatoes are mostly water and if you don’t let them cook down, your marinara will be mostly water too! 

The recipe says to boil it for 1 1/2-2 hours. You can let it go longer, just stir it frequently so it doesn’t burn to the bottom of the pot. It is ready whenever you like the consistency you see! However, this is not ever going to be thick like Prego! 

When you’re ready to start filling the jars, don’t forget to add the tablespoon of lemon juice to the bottom of each first. The acidity helps create shelf-stable, pantry-ready marinara! 

If you are brand new to canning or need to brush up on the steps leading up to this point to get everything ready for hot-water-processing, check out my Beginner’s Guide to Canning post!

You’re almost done!

Once you get the jars filled, make sure to wipe the rims with a clean, damp cloth and then seal with the lid and ring. Place the jars on the canning rack and slowly lower them into the water. Make sure the jars are covered by at least an inch of water. Cover with the lid, and once the water is back up to a full boil, process the jars for thirty-five minutes!

After the time is up, carefully remove them from the canning pot and allow them to cool on a wire rack or dishcloth for twelve hours before checking the seal.

If they’ve all sealed you can print cute labels for the lids and either put them in the pantry for future use or give them out as gifts!

I hope you enjoy this marinara as much as I do!

The recipe is based on Better Homes and Gardens Tomato Basil Simmer Sauce.

Print Recipe

Roasted Garlic and Basil Marinara

A canning recipe for homemade marinara that is exploding with delicious garlic and basil flavor!

Prep Time2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Keyword: Canning, Marinara, Preserves

Servings: 6 Pint Jars

Equipment

• Granite Ware Covered Preserving Canner
• Canning Tool Kit
• Pint Jars
• Stock Pot
• Mixing spoons
• Measuring Spoons
• Knife
• Food Processor

Ingredients

• 12 lbs tomatoes ripened
• 3 tbsp brown sugar packed
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes optional
• 1 head roasted garlic chopped
• 2 cups basil chopped fresh
• 2 cup parsley chopped fresh
• 6 tbsp lemon juice

Instructions

Roasted Garlic

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel some of the garlic skin away from the bulb, while leaving the cloves still attached to one another. Chop the head off of the garlic bulb so the cloves are showing. Place the garlic bulb in the middle of a piece of tinfoil and drizzle with a 1/2 tbsp of olive oil. Wrap all of the sides of the tinfoil upward around the bulb of garlic and scrunch tight.
• Place in the middle of the oven rack and bake for 40 minutes or until the cloves are soft and caramelized.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool. Cloves should squish right out of their sleeves and then you can chop them up for the sauce.

Prep the Tomatoes

• Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil
• Rinse tomatoes and cut the stem out
• Once the water is boiling put 4-6 tomatoes at a time in the pot (or how many can fit and still fully submerge). Blanche the tomatoes for 2-3 minutes and then remove and place on a cutting board to cool. Repeat until all the tomatoes have been blanched.
• After blanching, remove and discard all skin from every tomato.

Make the Marinara

• Cut all the tomatoes into chunks and run them through the food processor. You will have to do this in batches as they won’t all fit at once. After processing, pour the tomato sauce into a large stockpot.
• To your processed tomatoes, add the brown sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar, and chopped roasted garlic.
• Bring the sauce to a boil and cook for 1 1/2 – 2 hours or until it reaches a good consistency that isn’t too watery. Make sure to stir frequently to avoid sauce burning to the bottom of the pot.
• Once the marinara has been reduced, remove from heat and stir in chopped basil and parsley. Make sure to measure the basil and parsley after it's been chopped to get the maximum amount of herb tastiness!

Canning

• Fill the canning pot with enough water to cover the pint jars by at least 1″ of water and start boiling.
• Pour 1 tbsp of lemon juice into each one of your hot, clean pint jars. Fill each jar with marinara making sure to leave a 1/2″ of headspace at the top.
• Wipe the rims of the jars down with a clean damp cloth before placing the lid and ring on the jar. Tighten the ring down.
• Place the jars on the processing rack and lower into the boiling water. Cover the canning pot and process the jars for 35 minutes. Make sure to start timing only once the water has returned to a full boil.
• Once the time is up, remove the jars and place them on a cooling rack. Let sit for 12 hours before checking to see if the jars have sealed.
• Label jars and store in the pantry for future delicious use!

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