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The Best Sunday Marinara — But First, Our Trip to Tuscany

Updated March 2024 · 41 comments · 12 min read

★★★★★ 4.9 from 1,204 votes

It was the summer of 2011, and my husband and I landed in Florence with no plan.

But before I get to the sauce, I have to tell you about the nonna near the station.

(Jump to the recipe if you’re in a hurry — but honestly, the story is the best part.)

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You: homemade marinara

Granny: Homemade marinara. My Sunday one — five things in the pot, and an hour to let it go.

Sunday Marinara

Low and slow, the way it should be.

Ingredients

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 head garlic, sliced thin
¼ cup good olive oil
A handful of basil
Salt

Instructions

1. Warm the oil and the sliced garlic over low heat. Don’t let it brown.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands. Salt them.
3. Bring it up to a bare simmer — one bubble at a time.
4. Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.
5. Tear the basil in off the heat. Taste it, and salt it again.

Tips and Tricks

If it tastes sharp, it needs another ten minutes, not more sugar.

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How about all the workit takes to keep trackof recipes?

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full recipe’s in the video 🔥

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Sunday Marinara

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Sunday Marinara

Ingredients

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 head garlic, sliced thin
¼ cup good olive oil
A handful of basil
Salt

Instructions

1. Warm the oil and the sliced garlic over low heat. Don’t let it brown.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands. Salt them.
3. Bring it up to a bare simmer — one bubble at a time.
4. Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.
5. Tear the basil in off the heat. Taste it, and salt it again.

Tips and Tricks

If it tastes sharp, it needs another ten minutes, not more sugar.

Start Cooking

So much scrollingwhile cooking — and Godforbid you have a questionthe recipe doesn’t answer!

Sunday Marinara

Serves 4 · 1 hr 10 min · Vegetarian

Ingredients

¼ cup (60 ml) good olive oil
1 head garlic, sliced thin
Two 28 oz (794 g) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 tsp fine sea salt, plus more to taste
A large handful of basil leaves
A pinch of chilli flakes (optional)
1 lb (450 g) dried pasta, to serve
Parmesan, to finish

Method

Warm ¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil in a heavy pot over low heat.
Add 1 head of garlic, sliced thin. Cook 6–8 minutes until fragrant — do not let it colour.
Crush two 28 oz (794 g) cans of whole peeled tomatoes into the pot by hand.
Add 1 tsp fine salt. Raise the heat until the surface shows one bubble at a time.

Continue reading below

Lower the heat. Simmer uncovered for 40–50 minutes, stirring every ten minutes or so.
If it tastes sharp at this point, give it another 10 minutes rather than sugar.
Off the heat, tear in a large handful of basil leaves.
Taste, and salt again if it needs it. Serve over pasta cooked a minute under the package time.

I’ll walk you through itstep by step and answerquestions as they come.

RecipeJournal

1 hr 15 minSauceItalian

Sunday Marinara

Ingredients

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 head garlic, sliced thin
¼ cup good olive oil
A handful of basil
Salt

Instructions

1. Warm the oil and the sliced garlic over low heat. Don’t let it brown.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands. Salt them.
3. Bring it up to a bare simmer — one bubble at a time.
4. Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.
5. Tear the basil in off the heat. Taste it, and salt it again.

Tips and Tricks

If it tastes sharp, it needs another ten minutes, not more sugar.

Start Cooking

RecipeJournal

1 hr 15 minSauceItalian

Sunday Marinara

Ingredients

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 head garlic, sliced thin
¼ cup good olive oil
A handful of basil
Salt

Instructions

1. Warm the oil and the sliced garlic over low heat. Don’t let it brown.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands. Salt them.
3. Bring it up to a bare simmer — one bubble at a time.
4. Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.
5. Tear the basil in off the heat. Taste it, and salt it again.

Tips and Tricks

If it tastes sharp, it needs another ten minutes, not more sugar.

Start Cooking

Step 4 of 5

Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.

You: do i cover it?

Granny: Leave it uncovered — that’s how it thickens. Lid on and you’ll have soup.

Back in my day we gaveout note cards andorganized em’ properly.

Rosa11:52 PM

RECIPE?? 🙏

ok so

big glug of olive oil in a pot

then garlic. a LOT of garlic

the canned tomatoes, the good ones, i forget the name

then you just let it go?? like an hour maybe

honestly i never measure, sorry 😅

i’ll write it down properly sometime i promise

Now you can easily peekinto your folks’ recipes.

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Rosa

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1 hr 15 minSauceItalian

Sunday Marinara

Ingredients

2 cans San Marzano tomatoes
1 head garlic, sliced thin
¼ cup good olive oil
A handful of basil
Salt

Instructions

1. Warm the oil and the sliced garlic over low heat. Don’t let it brown.
2. Crush the tomatoes into the pot with your hands. Salt them.
3. Bring it up to a bare simmer — one bubble at a time.
4. Now leave it alone for forty minutes. Stir it when you walk past.
5. Tear the basil in off the heat. Taste it, and salt it again.

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