Written By: Shawn Krajewski
As the legend goes, this recipe was created in a hurry: customers piling into the establishment, orders piling up to huge sizes; the back kitchen frantically working to meet the demand; they ran out of sauce and needed to make more, which would take more than several hours to prepare; and that's when the chef came into the story. They proposed a solution: a simple marinara recipe, which is a quick sauce. However, this recipe was different in that it could be made in as little as 17 minutes. So after 30 minutes, both the sauce and spaghetti were ready to be sent out to the dining room. The ravenous customer took a bite and it was perfect! The customer began shoveling mouthful after mouthful of pasta and sauce. This sent one message to the kitchen: the sauce was good.
While the events above may not have unfolded exactly like that, this sauce was indeed made to be as quick and delicious as possible. A highly talented chef created this sauce recipe over 20 years ago and it is delicious.
Ultimately, this is a recipe for a tomato sauce that can be used for both pasta and pizza. Plus, it should only take around 17-20 minutes. While this sauce recipe was developed by a chef whose name has been lost to it, it is amazing! In fact, you will not be able to find this recipe anywhere else. Now, let's get to cooking.
Equipment:
A large pot
Large knife
Cutting board
Can opener
A heat-resistant tool that can crush ingredients
Ingredients:
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can whole peeled tomatoes
4 full stems of basil
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium-sized onion
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt (optional)
Step 1: Onion Prep
Heat the pot on medium-low heat. While it's heating, take out your knife, and start chopping the onion. To do so, place the onion on your cutting board and dice it into ¼ inch cubes. There are multiple ways of doing this, but I start by peeling the onion and slicing it in half, so it's easier to cut into cubes. I then cut multiple slices, making sure that it's all connected at the top. Midway through your cutting, add some olive oil to your pot. Then return to your onion, turn it 90 degrees, and cut perpendicular to the prior cuts. This will help you achieve cubes that are ¼ inch parts. After all cutting is complete, you should have a pile of diced onion.
Step 2: Sweating and Garlic Prep
Once the olive oil is hot, place all of the onions into the pot. Make sure you are cooking on medium-low heat because if it is too hot the onions will caramelize and turn brown, which won't work for this recipe. While sweating the onions-----which means making them soft and translucent-----remember to stir occasionally. Overall, this process should take 3 to 5 minutes. As the onions sweat, you should also begin dicing the garlic. First, peel the cloves and then crush them with a knife. To do so, put the flat part of the blade on the garlic and whack it with the palm of your hand. Don't be afraid of whacking the knife hard, remember the stronger the hit, the better. After this, chop the garlic by putting your palm at the edge of the blade and moving the back up and down. When the garlic is chopped, return to your onions. If the onions are slightly translucent, then you can add the garlic. However, if the onions are golden, you put them on too high of a heat, and you must restart. On the other hand, if none of the above is true, give them another minute.
Step 3: Tomatoes
Crack open both cans of tomatoes with your can opener and add their contents into the pot. However, do not throw the cans away just yet! Rinse out the cans with small amounts of water, and pour any remains into the sauce. (You can then throw the cans away.) Then, raise the heat of the stove to medium-high. Next, take out your choice masher, and start doing what the Hulk does best---smashing stuff! What you want to do is pulverize the tomato chunks. Crush everything until the sauce becomes liquid, but not completely. Then, you should add basil and a few pinches of salt. Finally, mix the sauce a little as you reach the 17-minute mark. Enjoy!
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