He blanches and peels fresh tomatoes for his sauce. I used canned whole peeled tomatoes... just keeping it real, I'm not that passionate. Besides, the big cans of Red Pack (my brand of choice, as recommended by former Roomie) go on sale for a dollar each, probably every three weeks or so. And because I have the dried Italian herbs, I also use that instead of fresh basil. What I like about this recipe is the fact that I don't have to sautee anything.
So here's my easy version of his sauce.
3 large cans whole peeled tomatoes in thick sauce
about 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
about 1 1/2 heads of garlic, peeled
fresh basil or dried Italian herbs
Pour in tomatoes into a big pot. Season with salt and pepper. Scott pours in some oil with his tomatoes, but I skip this since I use tomatoes in sauce. This further cuts the fat that I use in the sauce. Simmer for about 45 minutes. Crush tomatoes with a potato masher. I just let this continue to simmer while the olive oil infusion is being prepared.
In a separate sauce pan, pour the olive oil. Add the garlic and herbs. I like to pound the garlic a little bit to make sure that the flavors are further infused into the oil. Let the flavors infuse the oil over low heat for about 20 minutes. The aroma of garlic and herbs in the kitchen will tell you that it's working. Strain oil into the crushed tomatoes and let them simmer together for about 15 minutes. If you're using the dry herbs, check for taste, add more if needed.
This is a very subtle sauce that tastes pretty authentic and will cost you much less than the jarred sauces from the store. And it really doesn't take that much effort, especially if you use the canned tomatoes. So now, I always have this sauce in my fridge for those nights when I run out of ideas. I'll follow this up with some recipes that I make with the sauce.
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