scrumdeliumptious italian sauce

May 20, 2009

If that isn’t a word it should be because I use it all the time – only when it is completely fitting, of course.

Today I made my favorite spaghetti sauce. We use this to dip garlic bread in, pile it on top of pasta, and it is yummmm as a pizza sauce. If you want to make it yourself, here is the recipe:

In a huge pot, combine:
1 #10 can whole tomatoes, pureed in a food processor
1 #10 can crushed tomatoes
1 #10 can tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
2 10 oz. pkgs. frozen spinach

Process until finely diced in a food processor (although I just throw my vegetables in the blender with the whole tomatoes and chop them up while I am pureeing):
2 broccoli stalks
2 onions
6 cloves garlic
5 carrots
1 stalk celery
1 lb. fresh mushroom (I have never put in the mushrooms…I hate ’em!)

Season with:
2 bay leaves, broken in half to release the flavor
2 tsp. sage
1/2 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. rosemary
1 TB. basil

Mix vegetables and spices in the sauce and simmer for at least 45 minutes. It tastes even better if you simmer it for several hours, letting the seasonings bring out their full flavor. Cool thoroughly, scoop into containers and freeze.

I usually make this in the fall when I have bushels of fresh tomatoes. Then I don’t use the #10 cans, I use fresh and make crushed, sauced, and pureed tomatoes and then measure them into empty #10 cans to make sure I have the right amount.

By Diane Hopkins in “Hopkins Healthy Home Cooking.”

If you are coming to Green Canyon, feel free to swing by my camp for a sample on spaghetti night.