Everyone keeps asking me about quick cooking recipes and with the holidays looming, I thought I would share some recipes for my favorite tomato sauces. All of these recipes are ones that I have tested and made and re-made over time. I am in no way a tomato sauce expert, (geez, I’m not even Italian) but these are all tasty, quick, and can be frozen. You can use jarred sauce if you want, and I am never above doing that, but there is something about walking in the house after a hard day and the house smelling something home made.
Before I share the recipes, I first wanted to share some things I’ve learned about Tomato Sauce from watching hour upon hour of cooking shows.
1. Use the freshest ingredients possible. Fresh bulk sausage, fresh herbs, fresh garlic help keep the whole sauce tasting fresh. Remember in most cases you are using canned tomatoes, so the rest of the ingredients should be fresh.
2. Always freeze the extra. Seriously this requires no extra work, and then you always have sauce on hand. Perfect for enjoying after a night of Christmas shopping. Just make sure you add some fresh herbs when reheating and that helps freshen it up a bit.
3. How you use garlic is up to you, but I have found that how you use it makes a big difference in the sauce. For an intense garlic flavor, mince a few cloves of garlic and cook it in olive oil and then add the other ingredients as directed. For a mild flavor, smash a few cloves of garlic and cook them in olive oil, make the rest of the sauce as directed, and before serving remove the garlic cloves. For and even milder sweet flavor, roast a head of garlic and stir a few cloves into your sauce.
Erin’s Summer Sauce (we use this in the summer, during lent, or for our vegetarian friends because there is no meat anywhere in the recipe)
¼ Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small yellow onion chopped
3 Cloves Garlic (either smashed or minced)
¼ Cup White Wine (optional, if I have one open I put some in, if not no big deal)
1- 32 oz can crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
1- 32 oz can diced tomatoes drained
1 large bunch of FRESH basil leaves torn or chopped (reserve some for garnish)
Salt and Pepper to taste
In a large pot over a medium heat, pour olive oil. Add chopped onion and cook until soft. Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes (if minced don’t let it burn) stirring constantly. Add wine, sauce, diced tomatoes, salt and pepper, and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and add basil. If you used smashed garlic cloves, remove them now. Mix with favorite pasta. Serve with reserved basil and fresh parmesan.
Erin’s Marinara (this sauce is basic and not greasy. It can be used for anything even when making pizza.)
1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 lb of pancetta or bacon diced into small pieces
1 yellow onion chopped
2 carrots grated
3 cloves garlic (minced or smashed)
1 dried bay leaf
¼ Cup red wine (optional)
2 – 32 oz can of crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tsp fresh oregano chopped
1 bunch fresh Italian parsley chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
In large pot over medium flame, add olive oil and pancetta/bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally, and rendering fat until pancetta/bacon is crispy. Remove pancetta/bacon from pot and let drain on paper towel and reserve as a topping for a salad. Add onion, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper and stir occasionally until all vegetables are soft. Add wine and scrape all the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Then add tomatoes, and bring to a low simmer (you might have to lower heat). Then add rosemary, oregano and stir. Right before serving remove bay leaves and smashed garlic (if you smashed it), and add chopped parsley.
Erin’s Meat Sauce (this is Brian’s favorite. I make this a lot in the winter)
It is the exact same recipe as the marinara with a few changes.
For meat sauce I omit pancetta/bacon and instead cook 8 oz bulk sausage (sweet or hot up to you), and 8 oz ground turkey. Cook the sausage and turkey until completely cooked through (don’t drain it adds flavor) and then cook just like the marinara. (Just a side note, my Mom and kids HATE sausage of any kind, so I will just do a full pound of ground turkey).
I hope you enjoy these recipes as much as my family does. Ciao!
