Here at Pairings we use our marinara sauce on about 6 of our dishes / flatbreads. I wanted to use a recipe handed down from my family in Italy with my own twist on it. We make a lot of this, 10 quarts a week (yes a week). I usually prepare this on Wednesday and it usually gets into service the next day. having it hold for a day enhances its flavors… We do not use ham, salt pork or beef (which would be my choice) as some of our customers prefer not to have meat in their sauce… (I keep a small secret stash of that gravy [yes if it has meat its considered gravy, not sauce] just in case though.. shhhhhh)

I use the following ingredients:

• 2 large white onions (diced)
• 12 fresh garlic cloves (minced)
• 1 cup fresh cut parsley (chopped)
• 1/4 cup EVOO
• 14 lbs crushed tomatoes
• 4 lbs tomato paste
• 3 lbs tomato sauce
• 3 cups fresh cut basil (chiffonade)
• 2-3 cups parmesan cheese (fresh grated)
• 750 ml red wine (the secret!) alcohol burned off in sauce pan prior to adding

I cook this is a very large pot starting with sweating of the onions and garlic in EVOO, adding in half the parsley. I then add the tomatoes, sauce and paste stirring the mix until it starts to bubble. Then lower the heat to simmer and add the remaining parsley, basil, parmesan and wine and give it a real good stirring to mix it all in. Let it cook on low for an hour. Once off the heat  I put portions in the Vitamix and blend for 10 seconds to make sure the basil and cheese are completely mixed in and blended. Once completely cooled, we then store it in air tight containers to prepare for service…

The secret…. I’ve been using Vino Godfather lately (my nickname at the restaurant is The Godfather so it fits!!)

mangia tutti – Chef John Campanella