Marinara Sauce

When I was 16 years old I started earning money as a dishwasher at our only Athens Pizza and Steakhouse in Vernon, B.C., Canada way back in the 1960’s. In 1968, I had no idea at the time Jim Treliving of Boston Pizza just bought his own Boston Pizza restaurant in Penticton, B.C. Had I known that I would have worked with him, for sure. ( Penticton is only 1 1/2 hour south of Vernon, in the Okanagan Valley).

However, that wasn’t the case. Instead I worked with the Greek family in Vernon, who also owned an Olympia Pizza in Kelowna ( actually Rutland area ). The Greek family were so impressed with my work ethics ( because my family owned the Spudnut Shop two blocks over ) they started to introduce me to making pizza dough and their famous Marinara Sauce, ( which I learned later, was used at Boston Pizza in Penticton ).

THE ORIGINAL MARINARA SAUCE FOR PIZZA

This recipe is a much smaller version then the restaurant but it’s the same recipe. At the restaurant we would crush 6 large cans of stewed Roma Tomatoes in a grinder, by hand. This sauce is NOT cooked and used strictly on top of Pizza dough. However, you may cook it too, for your Spaghetti too.

Ingredients:

1 large can of Whole stewed Roma Tomatoes 🍅 ( 796 ml or approximately 28 fluid oz )

1 small can of Tomato paste ( 156 ml )

2 tablespoons of FRESH minced garlic

1/4 cup of finely minced onions ( use a blender to get it into a fine paste)

1 tablespoon of sugar

2 teaspoons of salt

1 teaspoon of black pepper

1 tablespoon of Oregano

1 tablespoon of Basil ( if you have fresh Basil – 3 springs without stems )

Method:

Double crush your whole canned Roma Tomatoes by hand in a large bowl. Make sure you get each one.

Add tomato pasta, sugar, blended fine onions, minced garlic, salt, pepper, oregano and basil. Mix all Ingredients with wooden spoon.

Now – add to your copy-cat Boston Pizza pizza dough 🍕 or you can now cook it on medium-low heat in pan for one hour. If you’re cooking it for Spaghetti or Fettuccine, you can also add 1/2 cup of your favourite red wine.

Enjoy !