Quick Tomato Sauce

We have meatballs.

We have pasta, cooked and ready to go.

Now we need a sauce.

We could use the pomodoro sauce I've made in the past, but I wanted to try out a recipe I had saved from America's Test Kitchen.

At first glance, it looks complicated, but it really is extremely simple.  The hardest part is grating the onion - more so for me because I don't own a box grater (something I need to rectify ASAP.)  I was using a microplane zester.  YES, a zester.  This was the smallest grate ever.  If you don't have a grater, just cut in slices, and then cut the slices smaller.  It's almost the same effect.

My main substitution, as usual, were the tomatoes.  I had one can of petite diced tomatoes, and one can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings.  This was perfectly acceptable - use what you have on hand.  I will concede it might not be the exact same flavor, but when the can of diced tomatoes are $0.49 and the Muir Glen whole tomatoes are 3.99... you have to make a choice.  I erred on the side of affordability.

Cooking time was short and sweet.  I added the meatballs and let them simmer even longer in the sauce at a lower temperature.  I still think a smaller size for the meatballs would have been beneficial, and that's my fault. Oh well.  Next time.

Flavor wise, I can't choose between the sauces!  I love them both!  I might lean a bit more towards ATK, but Lucinda... AHHH.  So hard to choose.

Mmmm.

Quick Tomato Sauce from America's Test Kitchen, Season 10.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup grated onion, from one medium onion, grated on the large holes of a box grater
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• Table salt
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes (or 2 14 ounce cans)
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• Ground black pepper

Directions:

1.  Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until melted.  Add onion, oregano, and 0.5 teaspoon salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid has evaporated and onion is golden brown, about five minutes.

2.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

3.  Add tomatoes and sugar.  Increase heat to high and bring to a simmer.

4.  Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened slightly, about 10 minutes.

5.  Off heat, stir in the basil and oil.  Season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Pomodoro Sauce

A good hearty pasta always comes with a delicious, hearty sauce.  The simplest of the sauces is a tomato sauce. 

I had printed the recipe for spaghetti pomodoro by Lucinda Scala Quinn ages ago, before I even planned the ravioli, for my "make" file.  I decided to kill two birds with one stone (that's such a violent saying!) by making the pomodoro sauce to go with my ravioli.

Lucinda calls this her "go-to" tomato sauce.  Once again, Lucinda is right.  Always listen to Lucinda!  It is such a great, basic sauce, and I can easily see myself adding ground beef, meatballs... anything.  The recipe also notes that you can add it to any recipe that calls for tomato sauce, such as lasagna, baked ziti, etc.

Once again, I didn't use whole tomatoes.  For one, I didn't feel like busting out a food processor.  Second, the cost per can.  I used petite diced tomatoes, although after watching the video, I might have been better off with tomatoes closer to a puree, or mashing the tomatoes down smaller, as I had large chunks of tomato in my sauce.

A second note - I forgot to get basil.  Woe is me!  I didn't have dried basil either.  I kept my cool and added oregano at the beginning of the simmering process.  Tasted great, actually.

Definitely a winner though.  Maybe I won't buy jarred tomato sauce again.

Pomodoro Sauce by Lucinda Scala Quinn of Mad Hungry

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling.
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 28 ounce can best quality whole tomatoes, lightly pulsed in a blender (I used two 14 ounce cans of petite diced tomatoes)
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt (a good pinch)
• freshly ground black pepper
• small pinch of sugar
• 1 sprig fresh basil
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, optional.

Directions:
1.  In a sauce pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and garlic.  Swirl the pan to coat the garlic with oil and heat until garlic sizzles but doesn't turn brown, about 30 seconds.  Add red pepper flakes and stir. 

2.  Add the tomatoes, salt, black pepper, and sugar and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Cook for at least 20 minutes, but no more than 30.  Add the basil the last five minutes of cooking.  Remove basil before serving.

Serve with your favorite pasta, or use as a sauce in other dishes.  Either way, enjoy!