Spaghetti Sauce

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Today I decided to make spaghetti sauce for the freezer. It’s not that my freezer needed spaghetti sauce, but because Doug bought some wine he didn’t like and I hate throwing away food that still has use. So…. Spaghetti sauce. 

I wanted it to be dark and rich to go with the abundance of red wine. I also wanted to really get full flavor from the tomatoes. This meant I wanted to add Vodka. Vodka really pulls the flavor out of the tomato. Though I don’t always use it because I don’t usually have it, I decided to use it this time. 

I started with some tomato sauce I made last summer when cherry tomatoes were coming in. It has been in my freezer and I haven’t used it. I had about a quart of it. If I hadn’t had it I would have doubled the number of roma tomatoes or added 2 boxes of your favorite cherry tomatoes. 

Since I wanted dark flavors I roasted 3 onions, 1 cup garlic cloves, 8 fresh roma tomatoes and 2 poblano peppers. The garlic (whole) and onions (roughly diced) got tossed in oil and salt before slow roasting at 300° for about an hour. They had little charred edges when they came out. 

The tomatoes got halved and placed cut side down on a silpat along with pepper slices. The pepper had been tossed in oil and salt. They also went into the 300° oven for about an hour. 

I started with about 3 cups of red wine and a 12oz can of tomato paste for body. This created my base. While the veggies were roasting I put my base in a stew pot over a low heat. I added 3 tablespoons of Italian Herb mix and 1 tablespoon of Herbes de Provence.

I also added 2 diced shallots. These weren’t roasted because I wanted their flavor to stay bright and different from the roasted onions and garlic. I also have a bunch of fresh parsley to add toward the end of cooking. 

I started the liquids simmering slowly and added the onions/garlic when they were done. Before adding the tomatoes/peppers, I pulled the skins off the tomatoes. 

All this needs to simmer for a couple of hours before adding the parsley and hitting it all with the stick blender.

Give it a taste and add some sugar and additional salt if they are needed. Then another hour of simmering and reducing, with the lid off. When the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon it cools and goes into zip top bags (labeled and dated‼). Lay those bags flat to freeze so they take up less space in the freezer and less time to thaw.

This made 6 - 2 cup bags.

So:

Ingredients

8         fresh roma tomatoes

2 boxes fresh cherry tomatoes

3 cups         red wine

1 cup         vodka 

3 med         yellow onions diced

1 cup         peeled garlic cloves

2 lg         shallots diced

2 lg         poblano peppers, sliced

3 tbsp         Italian Herb Blend

1 tbsp         Herbes de Provence

1 bnch        Italian leaf parsley

2    tbsp           sugar (optional)

                        salt to taste

Here is a recipe to use this:

Serves 2 – 3 (4 or 5 if you cook the other half pound of pasta and add the other half pound of shrimp and the rest of the bag of spinach)

Ingredients

½  lb bucatini

4-6 lg fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ med onion, diced

5 clvs garlic, minced

                light olive oil

1 cup multi colored bell peppers, diced

½ bag fresh spinach

½ lb med sized shrimp, peeled and deveined

1              bag of pasta sauce from the freezer

1 cup shredded parmesan

1 tbsp pesto, store bought or homemade

½ cup heavy cream (optional, but nice)

Instructions

Start a pot of water, deep enough to cover the pasta and cook according to package directions. This should be cooked to al dente, which means still a little chewy.

Meanwhile, In a large skilled add olive oil and mushrooms, onions and garlic. When the onions and mushrooms get tender, add the bell peppers. After a minute add the shrimp. When the shrimp have lost almost all their grey, add the spinach. When the spinach is soft, add the spaghetti sauce. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

Once the pasta is cooked, add it to the skilled using tongs, to preserve the pasta water. Toss with the tongs, adding pasta water if you need more liquid. 

Add the cheese and toss until the cheese has dissolved. Then add the pesto and heavy cream. Mix Do not boil after adding the cream. 

Serve with toasted Italian bread to dip in the sauce. This can sit for several minutes while you call your eaters, or can easily reheat for a leftover.


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