World's easiest marinara sauce

One of my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon is make marinara sauce. It is so easy and the resulting product tastes fresher and better than most jarred marinara sauces that I've tried (not to mention the fact that it costs less to make than buy). And it will make your house smell wonderful.

Here is my recipe for restaurant-quality marinara sauce:

2 28oz cans of peeled, diced, or crushed San Marzano tomatoes (see photo below of the can)

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 cloves of garlic, minced or grated

1 large pinch of crushed red pepper flake

1 teaspoon salt

12 leaves of fresh basil, chopped or torn*

*since it's unlikely that you will be able to purchase such small amount of basil, I suggest buying a whole bunch of it and making pesto with the rest.

Heat the oil in a large pot. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. When garlic starts to brown, add tomatoes and salt. Simmer for 20 minutes - 1 hour (depending on how thick you like your sauce). Add basil. Taste and adjust salt, if necessary. That's it!

This recipe yields about 2 quarts of sauce which will keep in the fridge for at least two-three weeks. It also freezes well. And it's a great base to add lots of other ingredients (e.g., cooked sausage meat, sauteed zucchini, wilted spinach). Today, I used it in a new recipe that I tried from Fine Cooking for eggplant parmsean, which not only took several hours to make but was very messy and the resulting meal, quite greasy. Which is why I am not sharing that recipe. Instead, I will continue to buy eggplant parmasean at restaurants where someone else can clean up.

In any event, I encourage everyone to try this recipe, unless you already make your own marinara sauce and have an even better recipe (in which case please e-mail me with your suggestions!) You will never buy a jar of marinara sauce again.