Thursday, January 20, 2011

SAUCE - #1 - basic tomato sauce


gather tools:
- chef knife, cutting board, can opener, sauce pan (medium), big spoon for stirrin'

gather ingredients:
- a few glugs olive oil. two big cans of whole tomatoes. one onion, chopped. four cloves garlic, chopped. dried red pepper flakes. red wine for drinkin' and flavor. salt and pepper.

make:
- in a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
- add onion and garlic and some salt & pepper. The salt will release liquid from onion and keep onion from burning. and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
- add the thyme red pepper flakes, and cook 5 minutes more.
- add the tomatoes and juice, crushing the whole tomatoes with your hands as you add them. bring to a boil, stirring often. add a splash of red wine. lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, up to a few hours. Season with salt and pepper and it's done.

freeze this for up to six months. or boil some water, make some pasta and serve sauce over the top with some parm. for a smoother sauce, blend it. or you can spin the sauce four different ways... ways to be posted in the coming days.