Basic Tomato Sauce

Allie should know how to make various tomato sauces (marinara, meat sauce, and our recent favorite... eggplant). We use the marinara as pizza sauce on homemade pizza, as a great addition to meat sauce, or just on noodles.

Marinara

On medium low heat, warm 1/4 cup olive oil in a medium pot. Add 2 or 3 cloves of smashed garlic, a pinch of red pepper flake and a few fresh basil leaves. Cook for a while (20 minutes or so) to infuse the oil with the flavors of the additions. Then pull out the garlic and basil. Add a can of tomato (diced or whole) and a pinch of salt, turn heat up to medium high for another 20 minutes or so. The tomato will get saucy, stir occasionally. Let cool, then blend until smooth. It's almost pinkish from the oil.

Meat Sauce

Brown a pound of lean ground beef (season it with salt and pepper), add a diced onion (small pinch of salt)and saute until soft. You can also add diced carrot if you want. You may need a little bit of olive oil if the pan gets really dry. Throw in a few cloves of minced garlic. Then add a small can of tomato paste (and another pinch of salt) and brown it. Throw in a can of diced tomato and/or a batch of marinara (see above). Let simmer for at least 30 minutes. I love to add in a little fresh chopped basil and oregano at the end.

Eggplant

I simply peel and dice an eggplant (one large or several little ones). I throw several pinches of salt on them, put them in the colander in the sink and let the moisture come out for a few hours. I rinse them and throw them in with the onions and carrots in the recipe above.

Allie, this is the sauce we had in the lasagna the other night!

Before she leaves

My sweet "baby" sister is getting ready to move away, so her cooking lessons are going virtual. She has a long list of foods she wants to learn to cook herself. One dish at a time I'll give her a "taste of home" and inspire her (and you!) to flex those culinary muscles.

Tonight she was here with us for dinner, and wanted the recipe (originally from my friend Christine L).

Sweet Potato Soup with Curried Cream

1 Tbsp. veggie oil

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 Tbsp. garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. ginger, grated

1 Tbsp. curry powder

1.5 lbs. sweet potato, peeled and diced

3/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 quart stock (veggie or chicken)

1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp. lime juice

Curried Cream:

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 tsp. curry powder

For the soup:

Heat the oil in a 4 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Add onions, garlic, ginger, and curry powder until just tender, 3-5 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook 3 more minutes. Add stock and coconut milk, simmer 20-25 minutes until the sweet potato is very tender. Turn off heat and let cool some before blending until smooth (I used an immersion blender, but a regular blender works too). This part can be made ahead and refrigerated or frozen. Reheat it over medium heat, and once warm, stir in honey and lime juice.

For the curried cream:

Whip cream to soft peaks, then fold in curry powder.

Today we also had creme fraiche, so I curried it too.

Then I served it with wild rice in the middle of the bowl, ladled the soup around it, and put a dollop of the cream on top.