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Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Pasta Sauce/ Basic tomato sauce/ Tomato and vegetable chunky sauce/ Tomato and vegetable pureed sau

A pasta dish is not complete without use of a sauce or pesto. The store bought sauce can be used for a quick preparation or the basic sauce can be made at home. This Italian sauce is called Marinara sauce as it is commonly used in recipe like Spaghetti. Fresh ripe tomatoes are used to make this. Alternatively cans of fresh tomatoes, cans of whole tomatoes and tomato paste combined together can also be used.
This sauce when made with vegetables tastes good either in pureed form or as chunks.Here is the recipe.


INGREDIENTS

Tomato12 cups
Onion2 large
Garlic6 cloves
Dried herbs2 tblsp
Olive oil2 tblsp
Pepper powderTo taste
SaltTo taste

For Vegetable Chunky or  Pureed Sauce
Mushroom1 cup
Eggplant 1 cup diced
Green bell pepper/Capsicum1 cup
Celery1 /4  cup
Red chili flakes1 tblsp



METHOD

Peel, deseed and cut tomatoes. Chop onion and mince garlic and keep ready.
Heat oil in a pan. Add onion and cook slowly, on medium heat until they start to caramelise. They should be evenly brown and soft. Cooking them this way brings out the natural sweetness in the onion.
Add the garlic, dried herbs ( basil,oregano, rosemary,thyme etc. mixed) and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes with their juice and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook on low, stirring occasionally for 2 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.
The basic sauce is ready. This can be preserved.
When you decide to make Pasta dish using vegetables, saute the vegetables given under the table above in a pan, using little oil. Add red chili flakes, and required salt and cook till done.
This can be combined in the preserved tomato sauce (one cup of tomato sauce or as per taste can be used)
and added to pasta. Or the sauteed vegetables can be pureed in a blender/mixie and added to sauce.
The variety of vegetables to be added depends on your choice.( I used sauteed mushroom as it is and pureed other vegetables).
Home made pasta sauce is ready.(see 31st August pasta recipe post published)









Quick ideas for Pasta
To make a simple, but richly flavored tomato sauce, place some plum or cherry tomatoes in an ovenproof dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Roast in a hot oven for 15 minutes, then add one or two peeled garlic cloves, and continue roasting for about 15 minutes more. Transfer to a food processor/mixie and blend with basil leaves. Season stir into cooked pasta.
Olives, mushrooms, eggplant, and artichokes bottled in olive oil make quick and delicious additions to pasta.

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