Quick Spaghetti Sauce


 
S

Steve Petrone

TVWBB Diamond Member
1 onion chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 carrot sliced
1 jalapeno chopped
1 lb beef (I used cubed steak cut up, could have been italian sausage....)
2 cans diced tomatoes
1/3 cup red wine
dried parsley
bundle of fresh herbs: rosemary, thyme, oregano
salt & pepper

Saute onion, garlic, carrot and jalapeno then set aside.
Cook meat, no need to brown.
Add onion, garlic, carrot and jalapeno to meat.
Add tomato, wine and herbs.
Ready in 30 minutes.

For dinner tonight, I cooked thin spaghetti and drained. Added thin liquid from the sauce to the cooked pasta...it is easily absorbed.
To serve, place pasta in bowl and cover with meat sauce. Good dose of Romano Cheese and a final touch of shredded fresh basil.
 
My tomato sauce recipe is very similar. But no meat. I can then use this as a basis for very quickly assembling La Madeleine's Tomato Basil Soup. Both recipes follow.

If you want a really roasted flavor, assemble the sauce in a dutch oven, and then bake it covered for 3 hours at 350 degF. Too deep of a flavor for a basil soup base, but an awesome pasta sauce base.

Tomato Sauce

Servings/Yield
4 quarts

Ingredients
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, large, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
10 cloves garlic, crushed
4 28 ounce cans tomatoes, with liquid, crushed by hand (recommended: San Marzano)
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, to 1 1/2
3 bay leaves
6 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
6 tablespoons basil, finely chopped
4 tablespoon oregano, finely chopped
kosher salt
black pepper

Method
In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add onion, celery and carrot and cook over medium to low heat until transparent. Add more oil if needed to prevent scorching. Add garlic and cook until tender. Then deglaze pan with tomatoes and their liquid, breaking up the tomatoes by hand to help them combine with the other flavors. Add crushed red pepper flake and bay leaf. Simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Remove bay leaf. Puree in a food processor, being careful because it is hot. Work in batches, and pulse each new hot batch a few times to heat the inside of the work bowl to prevent pressure build-up. When all of the sauce has been processed, return to pan and add parsley, basil and oregano. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Simmer for another 10 minutes, or if you are making pasta, while the pasta cooks. Use immediately, or cool and store in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to use.


Tomato Basil Soup

Based on my Tomato Sauce recipe and the La Madeleine Tomato-Basil soup recipe as related by the Dallas Morning News.

Servings/Yield
4 servings

Ingredients
4 cups Tomato Sauce , See above
2 cups tomato juice
20 leaves basil, finely chopped
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup butter, softened

Method
Heat tomato sauce and tomato juice over medium heat with finely chopped basil until simmering. Add cream and butter. Stir constantly over low heat until cream and butter are incorporated.
 
1 can tomatoes= 2 cups undrained fresh tomatoes
use recipe above
May want to peel tomato...dunk in simmering water for a min or two, then peel

EDIT:

To peel:
1. cut out stem area (perhaps 1/2 inch deep circular area where stem connected to tomato).

2. Cut X just through skin at bottom center of tomato (opposite stem).

3. Drop tomato in water at moderate simmer to easy boil for 10-15 SECONDS.

4. Chill or shock in ice bath till cool.

5. remove skin from x on bottom of tomato, peel from x towards stem

6. To de-seed, just cut tomato in half through the middle and remove seeds with end of spoon
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Steve Petrone:
1 can tomatoes= 2 cups undrained fresh tomatoes
use recipe above
May want to peel tomato...dunk in simmering water for a min or two, then peel </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Guess I thought most cans of tomatoes contain salt and/or sugar?

Appreciate it.
 
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