Italian cooking - lesson 3 4/7 tomato sauce

2 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
¼ cup Oil; olive extra virgin
2 larges Garlic cloves, peeled thinly sliced
1½ cup Tomatoes, italian plum
3 pounds Tomatoes, very ripe, blanched, peeled
(canned); with juices
Salt and fresh ground pepper
15 Basil leaves; fresh chopped seeded and pureed
3 tablespoons Pesto

Directions

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE

JIM CARNEVALE TOMATO SAUCE

The meal that we will prepare in this lesson is one of my favorites; Polenta and Sausage with a side of Sauteed Escarole with Raisins and Pignoli. The meal is simple to prepare and serves 4 as written here.

Start the meal with and antipasti of grilled vegetables and pesto as outlined in part 2 in the previous message. Finish the meal with fresh fruit or biscotti and vino santo and an espresso. The meal will be memorable. Here are the recipes for tomato sauce and polenta. The next message will contain the recipe for the side dish and assembling the meal.

BASIC TOMATO SAUCE There is nothing more simple than a fresh tomato sauce both in its favor and its ease of preparation. Use a good quality of canned tomatoes or for better results use fresh. This is the sauce that will be used for the Polenta and Sausage. It can also be used in a variety of other dishes and will also be enough to top about a pound of fresh pasta or ½ pound of dried pasta, cooked. The sauce can be prepared ahead and reheated briefly before serving.

Heat the oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until pale golden. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered for about 30 minutes. Add salt, pepper and basil. Cook gently for no more than 5 more minutes and serve.

JIM'S TOMATO SAUCE So much for the textbook recipe. The way I do tomato sauce is by starting with 3 pounds of very ripe tomatoes; blanched, peeled, seeded and pureed. Simmer them for around 30 to 45 minutes. Add a generous tablespoon or two of pesto and simmer for another 5 min. That's all there is to it. The quantities are not exact and should, in the spirit of good Italian cooking should be adjusted to your own taste.

From: Garner Miller To: Michele Stewart Msg #207, Jun-22-94 Subject: Italian Cooking From: Jim Carnevale Date: 4/23/92 MM format by Dorothy Hair 6/27/94

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