Mamma's Marinara

When I was a teenager I feel in love with a gorgeous Italian boy.  He was born in Italy, like me.  Unlike me, he came to the US as a teenager, so he still had the sexy Italian accent and the sexy Italian ways.  I was fifteen and he was twenty.  The age difference really didn’t upset either of our parents.  However, the fact that he was from Southern Italy, and not from the North where we were from, really threw a wrench into the relationship.  I remember my parents telling me it would never work because of the difference in cultures.  Cultures?  I thought we were all Italian regardless of what part we came from.  Apparently not.  There would always be this segregation between the North and South.

He would wine-and-dine me, taking me to all kinds of wonderful Italian restaurants in Chicago.  I remember he took me to the opening of “The Godfather” at the Chicago Theater.  I always thought it was so amazing that we didn’t have to wait in the mile-long line and just walked in.  He took me to see Frank Sinatra and to clubs where we danced the night away.

His family owned a wonderful restaurant in Chicago.  I would spend time there because he worked there during the week.  I came to know his family very well and spent time with his mamma, who was always cooking for her boys.  The kitchen always had plates of Veal Milanese, roasted eggplant, fresh bread and focaccia.  You would have thought she was planning a festa.  She wanted me to learn to cook the dishes he liked. I guess she thought this was the real thing.  From his mamma I learned to make the most delicious Southern Italian Marinara Sauce that is still a favorite to this day.  I do not know what happened to that childhood love.  Funny how those loves can just disappear.

This Marinara Sauce elicits wonderful childhood memories.  I’m sharing it with you now so you may make your own incredible memories with those you love.  Buon Appetito!

MAMMA’S MARINARA*

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed

  • ¼ tsp anchovy paste

  • 1 tsp capers

  • ½ cup of olive oil

  • ½ cup of chopped fresh basil

  • 2 tsp of oregano

  • 1 pinch of crushed red pepper

  • 1 large can crushed Italian tomatoes, or 25 very ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a deep, medium saucepan heat your olive oil.  Add the crushed garlic, anchovy paste and capers to the oil.  Be careful not to burn the garlic!  Once a golden brown, remove the garlic from the pan.  Add basil, oregano and crushed red pepper.  Let it gently brown then add all the crushed tomatoes.  Cover and turn heat down to a simmer.  Let the sauce simmer for 45 minutes.

Let the sauce cool completely before refrigerating.  The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks.  If you prefer a chunkier marinara, use peeled whole tomatoes and break with a wooden spoon in the saucepan.

*Marinara means “from the sea” hence the anchovy paste.  In Italy, a simple tomato sauce is called a pomarola.

Patrizia Trackman