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–+ servings

Sicilian Marinara Sauce-Workhorse of Nonna’s Kitchen

I got this marinara recipe from a friend’s grandmother. She had emigrated from Sicily in the early 1920’s and settled in the North End of Boston. She wrote the recipe down in a piece of scrap paper with a stubby little pencil. I had that piece of paper for years and then it disappeared. I admit I was pretty upset. I was planning on framing it. 
She always had a batch of this sauce going on her stove, and always served it with rigatoni or mezze rigatoni. 
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Onion finely minced
  • 1 Carrot finely minced
  • 1 stalk of Celery finely minced
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil enough to just cover the bottom of the pan.
  • 3 cloves of Garlic lightly crushed with the side of your knife.
  • 1/4 cup Marsala Wine
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 2 large sprigs of fresh Basil stems left on.
  • 2 28 oz cans of Whole Tomatoes crushed by hand.
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • 1 cup Parmesan Cheese grated

Equipment

  • Heavy Pot

Method
 

  1. Mince your onion, carrot and celery as fine as possible, or use a mini prep food processor. She insisted it should almost melt into the sauce.
  2. Add your olive oil to a heavy pan, just enough to cover the bottom and add your vegetables and sweat them gently until they are translucent. In Italian this is called a “sofritto”.
  3. After the sofritto is done, usually about 20 minutes, add your garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Then deglaze with the Marsala wine.
  4. Add your hand crushed tomatoes, your bay leaf, salt and pepper. Gently simmer for one hour and then add your basil and simmer for another 30 minutes. At the end fish out the basil and any visible cloves of garlic.
  5. Prepare your mezze rigatoni to just al dente. Before draining, take out a cup of the starchy pasta water and set aside.
  6. Drain the pasta and add it right back into the sauce. Mix well adding a bit of the pasta water at a time until it becomes glossy. You may not need all the pasta water. Add most of your Parmesan cheese and serve dusted with a bit more cheese.

Notes

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