Frank Sinatra's Marinara Sauce Was So Simple, It Only Required 5 Ingredients

A New Jersey-born son of Italian immigrants, Frank Sinatra was a larger-than-life cultural icon. And though he was mostly known for his singing, acting, and drinking, his cosmopolitan, globe-trotting life necessarily involved a lot of great food too. Two years before his death in 1998, Sinatra and his wife Barbara released "The Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook" filled with recipes and photos from their inner circle, including Frank's family marinara recipe.

A traditional marinara sauce is typically simple yet flavorful, and Sinatra's recipe only used five main ingredients: Undrained canned tomatoes, a medium-sized onion, three cloves of garlic, half a teaspoon of oregano, and basil to taste — plus the pantry staples of salt, black pepper, and olive oil.

Sinatra marinara sauce, as the cookbook called it, begins with gently sauteeing the garlic in olive oil until it just begins to brown. Discard garlic and saute the chopped onion in the garlicky oil, again until barely browned. Use a blender to quickly puree the canned tomatoes and basil (Sinatra recommended turning the blender on and immediately off), add the tomato-basil puree to the garlicky onions, and season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes, occasionally skimming the top, and you've got a sauce the Chairman of the Board would approve of.

One may think that the garlic and onions in Sinatra's marinara sauce could stand to be a little more browned, but Ol' Blue Eyes tended to prefer simple flavors in his food (and little garlic, to protect his voice). This trait went all the way down to his preferred sweets, as Frank Sinatra's favorite candy was the humble Tootsie Roll, and at every gig he performed, a bag of them could be found in his dressing room.

Sinatra's preference for straightforward flavors came through in his alcohol habits, too. While he was known to like whiskey, especially Jack Daniel's, Frank Sinatra had a soft spot for a gin martini on the rocks. And Sinatra's martini order had minimal fuss: Ice-cold gin with a hint of vermouth, served over ice with a citrus peel twist. A cold temperature was essential for his martinis, and the ice helped guarantee it — even if he had to drink them fast to avoid watery gin.

Frank Sinatra's favorite dishes and drinks weren't just Tootsie Rolls and extra dry gin martinis, of course. His everyday diet might include favorite dishes like veal Milanese, Entenmann's crumb cakes, and a basic arugula salad of just olive oil and red wine vinaigrette. Eating like the Chairman is an exploration of Italian-American cuisine, stiff cocktails, and classically American snack foods, all with the common denominator of simple and familiar flavors.