Recipe

Fresh Tomato Sauce Recipe

	Heatherbudapest / All my dishes 2 years, 3 months ago From the Celebrated Greens Restaurant, in their Fields of Greens cookbook. A delicious simple sauce for pasta, but especially for other dishes requiring basic tomato sauce. (Sorry for the repost, but Group Recipes just wouldn't let me edit the first one for some reason.)... More Prep:15m Cook:40m Servings:1	Heatherbuda
	simple fresh summer techniques blanching kitchenbasics sauces

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Ingredients

1 Tablespoon light olive oil

1/2 medium-size yellow onion, diced, about 1 cup

1/2 teaspoon DRIED basil (fresh won't hold up with the amount of cooking you're doing)

salt and pepper

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1/4 cup dry red wine

1-1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes OR 1 16-ounce can tomatoes with their juice, chopped

1 bay leaf

Directions

Begin by preparing your fresh tomatoes by blanching them. (If you're using canned, you can skip to step 3.)

TO BLANCH FRESH TOMATOES: Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and make a bowl of ice water and a metal strainer ready, for scooping tomatoes out of the pot. Drop two or three tomatoes at a time into the boiling water and count to 10; scoop them out, then plunge them into the ice water to cool. (The skins should be loose; if not, leave the tomatoes in the boiling water a few seconds longer.)

Core and chop the peeled tomatoes.

Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan.

Add onion, basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few pinches pepper.

Saute over medium heat until the onion is soft, about 7-8 minutes

Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add the wine and simmer a minute or two to reduce.

When the pan is almost dry, add the tomatoes and the bay leaf.

Reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 2 cups.

Tip #1: For a spicy tomato sauce seasoned with fresh chilies, add 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin seed and a few pinches of cayenne to the onion; omit the wine. Puree 2-3 seeded jalapeno or serrano chilies and cook with the tomatoes. This sauce is delicious on spicy corn cakes or stuffed zucchini or peppers.

Tip #2: Add a little sugar if the sauce is acidic. Or, I hear many Italians add finely grated carrot into their tomato sauce when it isn't adequately sweet. I've honestly never tried it.

NOTE: Clearly, this isn't meant as a stand-alone side dish, but Group Recipes won't let me list it as a technique or homemade ingredient.

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