Simple Tomato Sauce (with variations)

[Chris Amirault]

Simple Tomato Sauce (with variations)

Serves 4 as Main Dish.

This is an extremely simple tomato sauce that's good for pizza, spaghetti, and other Italian-American basics. It's also very easy and fun for kids (though you may want to use the knife!).

• 1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
  
• 2 medium onions, chopped
  
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• 1 T anchovy paste (optional)
  
• 2 large (28 oz) cans crushed or ground tomatoes
  
• 3 bay leaves
  
• 1 T dried oregano, thyme, and/or basil
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

1. Heat a large, thick pot over medium heat. When hot, add the oil.

2. Sauté the onions, stirring regularly, until they are translucent. You can brown them a little bit if you want a richer sauce.

3. Add the garlic and stir until the garlic has slightly browned. Be careful not to burn it! If you want to add the anchovy paste, do so here and stir to incorporate it.

4.Add your two cans of tomatoes, and then add the herbs, salt, and pepper. Stir it to incorporate the new ingredients.

5. When the sauce starts to bubble and pop, turn the heat down to low. You want intermittent bubbles popping every couple of seconds; if it's boiling away, it'll burn. Give it a good stir, scraping the bottom, every few minutes. In about an hour it will have melded and turned into a wonderful tomato sauce (but if the kiddies are impatient, you can serve it before then!).

Serve with any kind of pasta, or use as a basic pizza sauce.

Variations

If you have some extra wine, toss it in just before the tomatoes. If you have some ends of parmagiano reggiano cheese, toss them in with the tomatoes.

If you have an immersion blender, blend the sauce (hide the onions! ) once you've removed the bay leaves.

Add sliced mushrooms with the herbs for a mushroom sauce.

Add pitted olives, capers, the anchovy paste, and a good dose of red pepper for a simple putanesca sauce.

Keywords: Easy, Sauce

( RG1438 )