Whenever I am depressed I cook and whenever I haven't cooked for awhile I feel depressed. Since recently finding myself essentially where I was one year ago, career-wise and having eaten out the night before (that is "awhile" in my world), I turned to the kitchen last night.
It was a push to get there. I told Jonathan I would make dinner when he went out as a form of accountability. But I didn't want to have to buy too much, if anything at all, and I didn't want it to be too involved. I had some tomatoes of various qualities sitting in the living room and in the garden so I decided to make pasta sauce, which I am ashamed to say I have never truly done.
Since the recipe I decided on called for canned tomatoes I blanched, peeled, and chopped mine first. I also didn't have any red wine so I used cheap white wine I had in the fridge. The salt factor frightened me, and so did the thickening, but both turned out fine.
I served it with sauteed mushrooms and fresh cayenne garlic linguine that my mom had brought me from RP's Pasta. I topped it with some freshly grated parmesan as well as some Tuscan Dream cheese, which she brought me from Edelweiss Creamery. The process fulfilled me and the product fulfilled Jonathan, who had been eating junk for the better part of the last week.
Tomato Sauce
(Adapted from About.com Southern Food Tomato Sauce with Vegetables and Basil)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced or mashed to paste
3 tablespoons oil
6 cups blanched and peeled tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Preparation:
Heat oil in pan over medium heat; add onion, cooking until tender. Stir in garlic, tomatoes, wine, parsley, basil, sugar, and salt. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring frequently.
Serve with hot cooked pasta and sauteed veggies, such as mushrooms.
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