Easy Marinara

Here is a super simple marinara sauce for any time of the year!  So far our garden hasn't produced much in the way of tomatoes.  I love roasting them and making sauce from scratch but we just haven't had enough to do so.  Here's the next best thing!!

Have you noticed how expensive this stuff is?  I honestly haven't looked in a few years but I can only assume it has increased like everything else!  The prettier the jar, the more expensive.  Why pay money for a jar when the ingredients cost next to nothing?  This HUGE pot I am making totals less than $5. This can very easily be made in smaller batches depending on the size of your family.  The concept is the same.

 Here are the ingredients I used: 6lbs 6oz of canned crushed tomatoes, garlic powder, garlic salt, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, thyme, marjoram, sugar, onion, carrots, and garlic

 Take the skin off of the onion and cut in half.  Peel carrots and cut to fit in your pot.

 Put everything in your pot and add seasonings, stir, bring to a bubble, reduce, simmer uncovered at least 30 minutes.  I don't even test the seasoning at this point.  Wait until the end and the carrot and onion have worked their magic and the tomatoes have reduced and gotten sweet. The longer the better!  I like to throw this in at nap time or in the crock pot.  Give it a taste test and adjust seasonings to your family's taste. 

 When the sauce is done, just fish out the veggies.  See how much it reduced?  I even cut up the carrot for the little one to smear along with her noodles.

 Here is the finished product.  Enjoy over noodles, on pizza, or whatever recipes you want that call for marinara.  Below is all that is left of that huge pot! Those are 1Qt jars!  =)  I'm thinking maybe some eggs in purgatory, YUMMMMMM!