Culinary DUers: Give me Your Recipes for Marinara/Pasta/Tomato/Etc. Sauce!

[bicentennial_baby]

Here's the thing, I want to start making sauce for my pasta from scratch, as opposed to *shudder* from the jar. Soooo, I would love to hear any and all varieties of recipes that you may be willing to share, both with and without meat.

Thank in advance!! :hi:

:) On Edit: Pesto and Alfredo type sauces are also welcome! :)

[GOPisEvil]

1. Here ya go.

Take 1/2 carrot and shred it up
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of dried thyme
2 28-ounce cans of peeled whole tomatoes (get the San Marzano - trust me)
1/4 cup olive oil

OK, in your pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Then add the onions and garlic. Cook those until they are soft, about 8 minutes. Then add the thyme and carrot. Cook that 5-6 minutes. Crush the tomatoes by hand and add them and the juice to the pot. Bring it to a boil, stirring often. Then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or so. Then season it with salt and/or pepper an serve.

This lasts 1 week in the 'fridge and 6 months in the freezer.

Edit - too much olive oil.

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Merci

:hi:

[DrDan]

9. do whole tomatoes hold their taste

vs diced?

[GOPisEvil]

11. I think so.

I think if you buy a quality product you'll get a quality result. Again, I prefer San Marzano. But there are times when I don't want the texture of the crushed whole tomatoes, so I used diced, or pureed, and I still think it tastes good.

[DrDan]

19. I certainly agree with your "quality" comment

I have been using Don Pepino tomatoes for years - from Williamstown NJ. Costs a bit more to have them sent to Florida, but well worth it.

What do the carrots offer the sauce?

[GOPisEvil]

20. A little sweetness in the background.

It's less obtrusive than adding sugar.

[Texasgal]

2. Here's my easy Marinara

1/4 cup of olive oil
4 cloves of garlic sliced in half
1 35oz can of imported Italian tomatoes/ you don't HAVE to use imported, but it tastes better!
3 basil leaves, washed, patted dry and chopped
1/2 teaspoon of oregano
salt & pepper to taste

1. Place garlic and olive oil in large sauce pan.
2. Turn heat to medium and cook until garlic is soft and lightly browned.
3. Crush the tomatoes and add with their juices.
4. Fill empty tomato can 1/4 of the way with water and pour in with tomatoes
5. Add basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
6. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer and cook until thickened approximately 20 to 30 minutes.


Serves up to six.

[bicentennial_baby]

4. thank you!!

:hi:

[Extend a Hand]

5. my families favorite sauce

2 cans tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
12oz jar salsa (we like Mrs. Renfro's Hot Habanero)
2 Tbl Basil
1 Tbl Oregano
2 bay leaves
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbl Red pepper
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 bottle good red wine (1 cup for the sauce and the rest to drink ;) )
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

combine all ingredients in large sauce pan and simmer on low for at least 3 hours.
(add additional water/wine if sauce gets to thick)

(If you like meat sauce, you can brown 1lb of ground beef in the
bottom of the sauce pan, add onion and garlic and finely crumble beef until cooked well)
And then add everything else and drink while you wait ;)

During the summer I'll make my own tomatoe sauce with tomatoes from the garden)

[bicentennial_baby]

7. oooh, interesting

with the salsa and all that. Thank you!! :hi:

[trof]

6. Ya gotta have a pesto. NO COOKING!

Pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Olive oil
3 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts
3 garlic cloves, finely minced


Place basil leaves in small batches in food processor and whip until well chopped (do about 3/4 cup at a time). Add about 1/3 the nuts and garlic, blend again.
Add about 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese; blend while slowly adding about 1/3 of the olive oil, stopping to scrape down sides of container.
Process basil pesto it forms a thick smooth paste. Repeat until all ingredients are used, mix all batches together well. Serve over pasta. Basil pesto keeps in refrigerator one week, or freeze for a few months.

And a spinach pesto.
Good, and good FOR you.
;-)

4 cups washed, torn spinach leaves, stems removed, well packed, 16 to 24 ounces
3 garlic cloves, halved
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crumbled
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp. salt

Place a few spinach leaves, garlic, pine nuts, basil and a little oil in blender or food processor container. Cover and puree until leaves begin to look crushed. Continue adding spinach leaves a few at a time with small amounts of oil to blender, using a rubber spatula to help to combine pureed mixture.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. Oh that's excellent!!

I was hoping to see some pesto in this thread :D

and yay for spinach! i love it! :bounce:

thanks! :hi:

[trof]

17. Do ya good and help ya too.

;-)

[Gormy Cuss]

10. You're getting some good recipes so I'll only add this.

Never make just enough for one or two meals. Freeze leftover sauce in meal-size containers and you will always have a quick and tasty meal for those nights when you're utterly exhausted.

On edit: and meatless marinara is a great base sauce for lots of other dishes -eggplant parm, baked ziti, spaghetti and meatballs, etc.

[DS1]

Buy a jar of pasta sauce, pour it into a can, now you have pasta

sauce from a can :P

[bicentennial_baby]

13. oh, thanks so much!

so that's how i do that... ;)

:hi:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

12. I like to dissolve a piece of gorgonzola in the tomato sauce

It's not an "elastic" cheese like mozzarella. It dissolves perfectly, and gives the sauce a nice sting of flavor.

[bicentennial_baby]

14. cool

i am SO bookmarking this thread! yay! :bounce:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

15. Try adding...

green peppers
mushrooms
italian sausages simmered in water and sliced prior to adding
mushrooms
whole cloves of garlic
mushrooms
fresh spinach
mushrooms
Romano +/or Parmesan cheese
did I mention mushrooms?

...to any of the sauces already mentioned. Just eyeball the proportions.

Also, a food processer (or a blender for the tomatoes) is a huge time saver if you've got one. :D

[Bunny]

21. Artichoke hearts, too!

I like to add canned artichoke hearts to canned whole tomatoes, throw in some sauteed onion, garlic, and other spices, and have a nice light sauce.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

22. I love artichoke hearts!

When my kids have grown up, I'm going to start adding them! :9

[AngryAmish]

16. I make if different every time

If you have bacon/pork fat warm it up in a pan. Put in some olive oil. (I go lighter on the oil than a lot of the recipe's here). Throw in an onion, smallish, soften it until clear. 3-5 cloves of garlic, sliced thin, depending on taste. Big can of whole tomatoes. maybe 2. Dry white wine, cupish.

Bring to boil and simmer. After some of the fluid has gone away take a spatula and break up the tomatoes. cover for a while until tomatoes are soft. After a while add basil leaves. I add a lot because I like basil. Fresh is better. Buy a plant.

Sometime I put in oregano, but usually not.

I like my sauce runny. You can thicken it up by cooking more.

Experiment. have fun. if it sucks order pizza.

[bicentennial_baby]

18. danke

sounds yummy! :9

:hi:

[Gormy Cuss]

23. Spaghetti Carbonara

(more in the Alfredo mode)

1/4 lb bacon, cut into small pieces
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teas olive oil
2 eggs
1 TBLS medium or heavy cream (half and half is OK)
1/4 c. vermouth or similar white wine
salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup grated Parm or Romano
1/4 teas red pepper flakes
1 teas dried oregano

1/2 lb. linguine or spaghetti.

Saute bacon in the olive oil until crisp. While that's cooking, beat the eggs with the cream, S & P,and about 3/4 of the cheese. Begin cooking the pasta.
When the bacon has released lots of fat, add onion, garlic, red pepper, and oregano. Lower flame to a simmer and cook until the onions are soft, then add wine, cover the pan, and set flame to low. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Check the pasta and drain when it's done. Place in heated serving bowl (bowl should be large enough to let you toss the sauce with the spaghetti)
Beat the pan mixture into the egg mixture with a whisk -start slowly to prevent curdling. When the two are incorporated, toss the pasta in the sauce. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and serve.

[bicentennial_baby]

24. oh, yummy!!

:bounce: thank you! i'll have to make that one :)

[Wetzelbill]

25. hmmmm... I make Pesto and Alfredo but never from scratch

I buy the packet stuff, and go from there. I think this thread might help me out too.

I do make a good shrimp scampi though. All I do is melt a little butter and garlic, toss it over pasta and add some cooked shrimp, it's simple but damn good.

[GOPisEvil]

26. Pesto from a packet?

:shrug:

All you do is put basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese and olive oil in a blender and zip it.

Edit - forgot the parmesan.

[Wetzelbill]

27. hell it's that easy?

I need to buy a blender.

[GOPisEvil]

28. Or a Cuisinart mini-food-processor.

They're about 35 bucks. Either one works.

[ET Awful]

29. It's all about Picatta

Mmmm,capers, lemon juice, white wine . . . . Drooooooool

Very simple and very tasty.

http://www.cleveland.com/recipes/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/1129125301279140.xml&coll=2

For a sample.

Personally, instead of the chicken breasts that recipe shows, I cube the chicken and sautee it in garlic and olive oil (with other seasonings and such as well), then serve the whole works over fettucine.

As a matter of fact, that's what I'm having tonight, served over a mix of regular and spinach fettucine. I cheated and used a jar of sauce though (from Trader Joe's, very good for coming from a jar).

[bicentennial_baby]

30. oh, nice one!

thanks! :hi:

:9

[ET Awful]

32. No problem. It's VERY good stuff, and very light

It's not one of those meals where you feal exhausted as soon as you eat :P

[flvegan]

31. It's all about the spices.

Basil, garlic, oregano, a little thyme, little marjoram. Fresh, of course, is best.

I usually start my sauce with chopped red onion and portobella mushrooms in olive oil, then I add crushed tomato to that. Then spices. In another pan, some Boca "ground beef" with chopped green pepper, which I add to the sauce towards the end.

I'm hungry now.

[bicentennial_baby]

33. Kick

I'm loving the responses so far, let's get some more! :bounce: :9