Fresh Marinara Sauce in the Slow Cooker

As I've said before, I just love fresh tomatoes!  I made this marinara sauce in the slow cooker and the aroma as it cooked all day was tantalizing!  This is a good stand alone sauce or it would be great with the addition of shrimp or meat balls.

Yields about 4 cups of sauce

4 pounds tomatoes
1 small onion
1/4 cup olive oil
2 small cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon basil
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus  more to taste
1/2 teaspoon Splenda (or 1 teaspoon sugar)
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Peel, seed, and coarsely chop the tomatoes, retaining as much juice as possible.  I quartered the tomatoes and squeezed the seeds out over a strainer placed over a bowl to catch the juice.  You can then either coarsely chop the tomatoes or use a potato masher to do this in your slow cooker.  Dice the onion.  Mix all together in slow cooker.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.  If your sauce seems too thin, then mix together 1 Tablespoon corn starch and 1 Tablespoon water and stir into the sauce to thicken it.  If  you want a less chunky sauce, use an immersion blender & blend it to your desired "chunkiness".

Before serving sprinkle with fresh basil and shaved parmesan cheese.

You're now ready to be employed by the best Italian restaurant as the marinara chef!

You can tweak your sauce with the addition of carrots, celery, a pinch or two of red pepper flakes and a dash of red or white wine!  Experimenting is fun so make it your own!