Margo's Feast

This is a recipe that can be used in so many ways it’s always good to make more than you need and freeze the excess. Homemade is always better than store-bought in my universe, and I keep a container or two of this tomato sauce in the freezer at all times. It’s great on pizza, and is a real time-saver when you get an urge to whip up spaghetti with meatballs or fresh Italian sausage for a quick dinner. It also helps transform boring chicken breasts into much better-looking and tasting chicken parmigiana.

Ingredients:

• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 bunch fresh basil (or flat leaf parsley), torn or chopped
• leaves from 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 big can – 1 pound 12 oz (about 800 g) – of the best tomatoes you can find or an equivalent amount of ripe fresh tomatoes
• salt, freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Place a large, heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium low heat. Add the olive oil, garlic and onion. Saute until onion is translucent, add the tomatoes, basil and thyme. If the tomatoes are whole – smash them with the back of a spoon or fork. Season with salt and pepper, add the vinegar and some sugar if too sour. Cook for 5-6 minutes, until it begins to concentrate. Strain the sauce through a sieve, pushing with a wooden spoon or using a whisk. Put the strained sauce back into the pan and simmer for few more minutes until it is thick enough to spread on a pizza, or add a bit of water if it’s for pasta. Freeze any leftovers.

Tags: meat balls, pizza, spaghetti, tomato, tomato sauce

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 6:05 am and is filed under Mains, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.