In this thread, mention was made of an Italian tomato sauce recipe in a cookbook by, I believe, Henry Hill. Requests for said sunday gravy recipe were made. I even made a bad pun about it, for which I will be forever regretful.
But! I’d really make to make such a sauce tomorrow, so please, if you have a good recipe, please post it here posthaste! Fenris, I believe you said you make a good sauce. How about it?
Check the other thread–I and my carpal-tunnel affected wrists just put one up.
(Originally posted elsewhere)
Unca Fenris’s Super-Secret tomato sauce recipe
About 20 plum (or roma) tomatos, fresh if possible, canned but whole if not.
1 red pepper, seeded.
1 onion
2-4 cloves of garlic,
1 head of garllic
Olive oil
“Italian Herb seasoning” (or real Oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme: fresh is better, but canned isn’t bad)
crushed red pepper flakes
balsamic vinegar
red wine
1/4 cup sun dried tomatos, minced
Salt, pepper, sugar to taste
fresh basil (dried won’t cut it for this)
If the tomatos are fresh, rinse 'em and dry 'em thoroughly. If canned, drain 'em well. Either way, take them and the red pepper, drizzle 'em with olive oil and roast in a 450o oven (turning several times) 'till (if fresh) the skin turns black or (if canned) they start getting brown “toasted” spots on 'em. If the tomatos were fresh, peel the skins off. Don’t wash them to get the skins off or you’ll wash off the yummy-good roasted flavor. Peel the pepper, cut in half, seed.
Roast the head of garlic at the same time. Lop off the pointy bit at the top of head of garlic and drizzle with olive oil and salt it lightly. Wrap it in foil completely and toss in the oven for about 40 minutes.
Chop at least 1/2 the pepper into bite-sized bits. (If you like roasted red pepper, use the whole thing)
Cut the onion into chunks and saute in olive oil for about 5-7 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Chop up the couple of loose cloves and toss 'em in. When your done, the onions and garlic should just have a tiny bit of color.
Toss the onions, garlic and tomatos into a non-reactive pot. Take a potato masher and squoosh the tomatos (if you really hate the idea of a chunky sauce, chuck the three ingredients into a blender first…but it’s better chunky.
If you’re using dried herbs, add 'em now: about 1 Tablespoon of the dried “Italian herb seasoning” (if you’re using fresh, wait 'till about 15 minutes before it’s done), 1 scant teaspoon of sugar, about 1/2 cup of red wine, two Tablespoons balsamic vinegar and the sundried tomatos. Add the roasted garlic by squeezing the head of garlic…all the roasted cloves will just squoosh out. Let simmer for an hour or so. Add salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and (if needed) more sugar to taste. About 5 minutes before serving, add a bundle of basil leaves, chopped.
Serve over pasta.
Yummy.
For added yumminess, cook some Italian sausage first, drain most of the grease (but not all), then cook the onions/garlic in the same pan.
Fenris