Homemade Pasta Sauce

http://www.food.com/recipe/pesto-marcella-hazan-448339

I think pesto is the mother of all pasta sauces.

I toss a jar of no sodium added fire roasted tomatoes (I always use Muir Glen), 1 medium yellow onion, and 2 cloves of garlic in a pot. I just loosely chop the onion and mash the garlic with a knife.

Simmer for an hour or so (until the onion is soft and it all simmers down a bit).

Add whatever spices you want (I use sage, oregano, thyme, and parsley)... .and buzz it with a stick blender (I leave the onion/garlic in there when I buzz it). I taste it then and if it's SUPER acidic (doesn't usually happen with the muir glen brand) I add a tiny bit of brown sugar.

DELICIOUS.

Great to see the use of passata. I use the stuff several times a week and just add chopped garlic, mixed herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano mix), and a little black pepper. If I'm making a beef ragu I will add a crumbled stock cube too to bring out the flavour of the minced beef.

Some great ideas that I'll definitely be trying!

Veggie Sauce (about five servings, you can freeze it):
Put a chopped onion, 2 chopped peppers, 100 g of white beans and a small thinly chopped potato in a pan with some olive oil (you don't need much, 1 or 2 tbsp should be enough), cook slowly for about 10 minutes then add passata and let it cook for another 15 minutes.
I literally drown my pasta in this sauce! It has more calories than plain tomato sauce but it's much more filling so it makes me eat less pasta and more veggies.

Green Sauce:
Cook zucchini in a pan then throw them in the blender with canned peas, salt, pepper, and oat cream (you can use regular cream or low-fat, you only need it to make the sauce smooth). Very tasty, even more with some parmesan cheese on top.

You need the pasta for this - you can't make it in advance - but I LOVE it!

Cook your pasta (75g per person), ading 80G frozen baby broad beans or petit pois when the pasta has 3-4 minutes lefft to cook. Oven bake a salmon fillet per person (or skip this stage and shred up smoked salmon instead).

When the pasta is ready, drain, reserving a cup or so of the water.

Return pasta and beans to the (rinsed) pan and add 50g light Philadelphia per person (I love the one with roasted peppers, but most of the flavours work - I don't suggest trying the chocolate:laugh: ) and stir it into the hot pasta with a spoonful of the water, adding more water as needed to make the sauce smooth. Add seasoning and a little dried dill (the herb not the pickle!) and stir through the baked or smoked salmon. Serve with a little grated parmesan on top (before embarking on weight loss I also used to add Parmesan to the sauce:ohwell: )

my basic sauce is

8-10 fresh tomatoes roughly chopped
1 large white onion chopped
4-6 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp unrefined sugar
15ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp oregano (or basil, or thyme, or a mix) (fresh when i have it or dried from my store cupboard
250ml water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
1 tsp sea salt
big grind of black pepper

Tha'ts the basic sauce I make - sometimes I add a splash of balsamic vinegar or a tablespoon of chilli flakes. I add other ingredients to make it into a meal or pour it over pasta and meat and vegetables.

I forgot to mention one of my favourite ones, pasta alla Norma
Prepare your basic tomato sauce then add sliced eggplants (they should be fried but sautéing will work as well) and ricotta salata (which is a dried and salted variant of cottage cheese, if you can't find it parmesan cheese will be OK too).

Pumpkin pasta:
You need about 200g of diced pumpkin. Steam it until it's quite soft, put 2/3 in the blender with some salt and dried garlic (you may add some cream for extra smoothness). You can blend it all but I like to keep some dices whole. Top with black pepper.

in my opinion, the key to a great pasta sauce is to add meat to it, either chicken legs\thighs (my preferred option although i dont eat the chicken, my son does), pork chops or beef, but not minced beef as its no where near as good nd releases too much fat,
but the meat flavours it so much, and things like pork chops are great when cooked in the sauce,
i also, substitute normal onions for spring onions, so much better,

have a few variations on pasta sauce as i have eaten copious amounts of it over the years, but here is one i had the other day

(i dont measure quantities except by look so not exact)
4 tins of good quality tomatoes (makes sense to make enough for a few dinners as does not work out cheap for one)
1 1/4 tin of water per tin of tamatoes
good quality olive oil
2 pork chops
1 red pepper (i dont eat it and only put it in for flavour so cut into quarters)
2-3 chopped white head bits of spring onion
2-3 birds eye chilli's finely chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic (or garlic puree as an alternative)
herbs of your choice (i use italian mixed herbs mostly)
a little salt
a little pepper
tomato puree

fry the pork chops on a medium heat and introduce the red pepper half way through, then when pretty much cooked add chilli, garlic and spring onion
fry for another 3-4 minutes, then squeeze a little tomato puree and mix in, then add salt, pepper and herbs and then pour over the tomatoes,
now the longer you leave the sauce on a very low heat the better, stirring occasionally, anything around 30 minutes is good, 40-60 mins is great,

now 2 options, as a starter you can serve the pork chops separately with a little sauce over the top, some nice salad and good quality crusty loaf,
or you can chop it up and eat it with your pasta,
also, if you have an italian delicatessen anywhere near you, get things like pasta and Parmesan from there as so much better than the supermarket

Bump

If you want a homemade tomato sauce, I've spent months and lbs and lbs of tomatoes experimenting and came up with my own personal favorite: http://cellacooks.tumblr.com/post/45460546117/marcella-not-quite-hazan-s-tomato-sauce

Things I like about it include:

- Loads of garlic, but it all mellows so well during the cooking process that it adds a layer of flavor without hitting you in the face.
- Some onion flavor to add to the garlic notes, without detracting from the tomato flavor or having to deal with a bunch of slimy yucky onions in the sauce at the end.
- The butter really does add a richness and a soft velvety-ness to the sauce that is absent when only olive oil is used.
- Just a hint of wine adds a note of depth while keeping the major flavor of the sauce one of freshness and verve.

1lb Hot Italian Sausage
1lb sweet italian sausage
2 onions, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
12 garlic cloves (minced)
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 dry red wine
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 lbs country style pork spare ribs
1/4 cup shopped basil

Brown sausage and put aside.

Add onions to a pot and sautee until brown (6-8 mins)

Add oregano & garlic, cook 30-60 seconds

Add tomato paste and cook 1-2 mins

Add Red Wine and stir, mixing all ingredients.

Transfer contents to a slow cooker

Add diced tomatoes, sausage and spare ribs to slow cooker

Cook 8-10 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high.

Remove spare ribs, discard bones and shred with a fork, return to sauce and serve.

Not so "saucy" but quick and easy after work.

Put some fresh tomatoes (cherry toms halved or larger ones chopped) in a pan with a DRAINED tin of sardines in oil, some lemon juice and zest and a pinch of chilli flakes/little chopped garlic (both optional!). Cook gently until the tomatoes are softened, then stir into freshly cooked pasta. You can add a little grated parmesan if you've got spare calories but it honestly doesn't need it!

Bump!