Homemade Marinara

Did you know, Marinara was the way parents used to get their kids to eat vegetables?

For the past week, my boyfriend has been asking me to cook something to get rid of his ground turkey in the fridge. After deciding on making a pasta with Marinara sauce, I went searching for the best recipe out there. Luckily, my roommate has a family recipe that is absolutely delicious!

This is the original recipe:
1         Celery Stalk, diced
1         Carrot, diced
1         Onion (medium or large), diced
1         Green Pepper, diced
2-4      Cloves of Garlic, minced
1 Tbs   Dried Ground Thyme
1 Tbs   Dried Oregano
1 tsp    Dried Rosemary
1 lb.     Ground beef (can also use Chuck or a meatloaf mix)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
2 28-oz Cans of Plum or Crushed Tomatoes (San Marzano is the brand I used)


1. Place celery, carrot, onion, green pepper, and garlic into a food processor. Pulse until vegetables are finely chopped. Be careful not to overdo the pulsing as it may turn your vegetables into mush)

2. Coat the bottom of a pot with olive oil, and saute the vegetable mix in the olive oil. When they soften, add a little salt and pepper (keep the heat low, as to not burn the vegetables)

3. Add the dried herbs and stir briefly

4. Add the tomatoes, some salt and pepper, and a pinch of sugar (the sugar adds a bit of sweetness to the tomatoes)

5. Cover the pot and simmer on a very low flame for one hour (I left the pot at 2.5 out of 10 on the burner). Remove lid and stir from time to time. If you want the sauce to be thicker, remove the lid for the last 20 minutes or so.

...while the pot was simmering

The end product!