Caramalized Garlic Marinara

By MissMia on September 06, 2012

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    1. 2 heads garlic, peeled and crushed ( not cloves, heads)
    2. 3 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, preferably, San Marzano, drained and chopped removing hearts ( do not use crushed or pre-chopped, they are lower quality tomatoes)
    3. 2 cups tomato puree ( this equals a fifteen ounce can)
    4. 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil ( use more if necessary)
    5. 20 -30 basil leaves, roughly chopped
    6. 1 teaspoon salt ( plus more to taste)
    7. 2 -3 teaspoons sugar ( if not sweet enough ....this is my addition, he would never use sugar)


  1. Place garlic in a small sauce pan and cover with EVOO. Cook until lightly browned and crisp. This means watching carefully because if the oil is too hot it will burn and turn bitter, too slow and it will stew instead of carmalizing. I keep the evoo nearby in case it gets too hot and then I just pour some in to cool it down.
  2. In a sauce pan put chopped tomatoes and basil leaves. Once the garlic is caramalized add that to the pan with about 1/4 cup olive oil, or more to taste. I use the entire half cup.
  3. Add salt to taste and sugar if neeeded (I use about 2 - 3 tsps). Simmer for half an hour.
  4. Serve over your favorite pasta.
  5. Perfect frozen and used in lasagna or other baked pasta recipes. Also great with red pepper flakes as a red clam sauce (obviously, add clams).