I have actually been doing lots of cooking. I have just been so frustrated by the poor quality of my photos that I have not wanted to put anything up. That being said, I am going to use some crappy photos anyway. A nicer camera is in the mail, I swear!
The other night, I had suggested pasta with red sauce and garlic bread for dinner. My SO(significant other) was happy with that idea, since he enjoys simple, hearty food like that. So I took some pork sausage out of the freezer to thaw. When I was at Safeway later, and saw that they had organic heirloom tomatoes(and good ones at that) for only $2.99 a pound, I naturally bought several pounds and the idea of a meat sauce went out the window. Except for the fact that the SO is by no means a vegetarian. In fact, I am not sure I remember him ever having a meal that did not involve meat, except perhaps eating with my vegetarian friends. That's ok, I will just do both!
What I ended up with was two sauces that begin with the same basic idea(tomatoes, onion, garlic, and herbs), but end up a very, very different finished product.
I started about 9 quarts of water in a large stockpot for the fresh tomatoes and pasta(I almost always use lots of water, more on that later). While that was going, I chopped I large yellow onion, peeled and minced about 2/3 of a bulb of garlic, and minced I small shallot(about 2 Tbs). Once the water was boiling, I started putting my tomatoes in(about 3 1/2lbs) in small batches, blanching them until skin breaks, then pulling them out to cool.
In one pot, I start 1lb pork sausage and about 1/2 the onions and garlic cooking. In another, I put in some good extra virgin olive oil, the rest of the garlic and onions, and the shallots(I left the shallots out of the meat sauce because its delicate, fragrant qualities would be drowned out by the meat.), and start it to sweat and saute. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, I remove the skins and cores, then chop them roughly and add them to my aromatics. I also add a jar of pasta sauce to the meat once it is fully cooked and in small bits, and then start a pound of rotini(corkscrew) pasta to boil.
The meat sauce is almost immediately ready to serve. The Pomodoro(fresh tomato) sauce though, is still too watery and needs some time to cook down into a rich, hearty tomato sauce. I add some dried herbs to both(oregano, savory, and marjoram), and turn the meat sauce to low heat.
While the sauce cooks, I take this time to make my garlic breads. You see, the SO loves it when I make garlic bread out of sourdough english muffins, while I prefer a big, crusty french baguette. I am not a reasonable person, so I have to make both. I cut the french bread down the middle, then split the muffins and butter them all generously. My recipe for garlic bread is really simple and straightforward, and it seems to always deliver much more consistent and satisfying results than roasted garlic or other techniques. I made my own mix by using equal parts kosher salt and granulated garlic that is ground down just a bit. I put lots of this mix down on the breads, then follow with a healthy coating of Parmigiano Reggiano, then put them all under the broiler until they are bowned nicely.
By this time, the tomato sauce is almost perfect, so I take lots of fresh basil and cut it roughly, then add it to both sauces just before I pull them off the heat. The pasta gets drained and here are the finished products.
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| Meat sauce w/parm |
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| Pomodoro Sauce |
I would love to hear about anyone's favorite techniques, recipes or preference for tomato based pasta sauces. What is it about the sauce that you cook that makes it close to your heart?
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| French Garlic Bread |
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| English Muffin Garlic Bread |
