There is most likely not going to be any other adventures in the blog posting. It really is just about sauce. I am not an Italian cook. I will be completely honest, that up until a few years ago, I bought jarred or canned – store bought spaghetti sauce. What happened was I watched one of those Facebook videos that we all get caught up in, about a little tiny Italian lady, in a little tiny kitchen making sauce. The very next day I made sauce, and I have not turned back. Last summer I froze and jarred sauce from our garden tomatoes. Fresh as the day we picked them, made the winter seem less dark and tasteless.
Let’s get to the sauce of it all. Be a little saucy! Let’s build a sauce.
Here is what you need:
1 small Vidalia onion, chopped (about a cup and ½)
2 tablespoons EVOO
3 cloves garlic, minced or 3 tablespoons of jarred minced garlic.
1 tablespoon or to taste, Italian blend seasoning.
2 cups chicken broth
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 small carrots, shredded
Pinch red pepper flakes
6 oz can tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 whole nutmeg, grated
*Fresh chopped basil and Oregano (options)
1 good size green bell pepper, chopped
This is how you build these flavors to all mesh together. It is much like laying a framework for a home. You lay the foundation, build the house, and inside are the people you love. That’s this sauce.
Add your olive oil to large frying pan and heat on medium high. Add chopped onion. Sauté until tender. Add green pepper. Sauté until tender. Add mined garlic, sauté until brown, Add grated carrot, sauté until tender. Salt and pepper to taste. Sauté some more. Add tomato paste to pan. Coating all the veggies. Sauté. Add Crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning, more salt and pepper to taste, cook about 5 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, cook 5 more minutes. Each layer is building flavor as you go. Now add grated nutmeg and stir. Add sugar, stir and turn your heat to simmer – cover pan, and simmer all the day long. At least 4 hours. The longer the better. Now all these flavors work together. Blend together for a delicious fresh sauce. Also, double or triple this and freeze it in bags for fresh sauce on hand anytime!
*Add your fresh basil and oregano to the sauce shortly before you serve it. If you add these fresh herbs to the simmering sauce, they lose the aromas and sweetness, and can become bitter.
This is terrific over regular pasta! Baked with lasagna. As a base for meat sauce.
I baked with **stuffed banana peppers recently.
**Filling and directions for Stuffed Banana Peppers:
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, or turkey sausage
2 eggs
1 cup Italian flavored bread crumbs.
2 cups shredded cheese of choice
5-6 sweet banana peppers in varying sizes
Do this:
Place a 4 quart pot on stove with water to boil
Add meat, egg, breadcrumbs, 1 cup sauce to large bowl and combine well.
Cut a slit from top of pepper to end, creating a pocket. Clean our seeds. Leave tops on, because it’s kinda cute. Place peppers in boiling water for about 5 minutes till tender, yet still firm. Odd choice of words but you want the crunch out. 5 minutes should do that.
Add about a cup of sauce to bottom of 13×9 baking dish. Add meat mixture into the “pockets” you created in the peppers, add to baking dish. Top with more sauce. Cover and bake in a 350 oven for 1 hour. Uncover, top with cheese, and place back in oven until the cheese is a nice melty goodness. About 15 minutes.
I guess there were a few adventures in there! ❤
BeYOUtiful life❤ 