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!