Red Sauce for everything

Pasta is a family favorite at my house.  I always make homemade sauce, and use my own fresh Italian Basil grown in my garden.  During the summer growing season when I have more basil than I know what to do with, I use a food processor to grind fresh basil, garlic and olive oil, into a paste.  I freeze this and enjoy the flavor of fresh basil in my cooking all winter long.

Using dried basil is just fine if you can’t get your hands on fresh stuff, but my preference will always be FRESH!

Canned tomatoes, sauces and pastes are combined to give a thick, rich sauce.  I just love the Contadina brand that has roasted garlic or herbs.  It gives my sauce another dimension of flavor.

Red wine is a must!  This doesn’t have to be expensive stuff, but I recommend the deepest red you can find, like burgundy.

This basic red marinara, or spaghetti sauce can be used for any type of pasta or pizza.

2 tablespoons extra virgin oil

½ large or 1 small onion

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon dried basil

  Or ½ cup fresh chopped basil

1-29oz. can tomato sauce

1-29oz. can crushed tomatoes

1-6oz. can tomato paste

1 cup red wine

Salt and pepper, to taste

Chop onions and chop or mince garlic

Heat a large 6 quart pot, with a heavy bottom, over medium heat. 

When hot, add oil, swirling to cover bottom of pan.

Add onions, stirring for a minute, then garlic and basil.

    DO NOT SCORCH-remove from heat if necessary

Saute for a few minutes, till onions are clear (and your house smells like heaven!)

Add sauce and crushed tomatoes and stir

    Fill 1 empty can ½ full with water, pour back and forth between cans to rinse out, then pour into sauce pot. (waste not, want not)

Measure the red wine in a 2-cup measuring cup or pour into 2 cup bowl.

Tip: Open paste can at both ends, remove 1 lid and use other lid to push paste out of can.

Add paste and combine thoroughly, then pour into pot

Add water to measuring cup or bowl, then add to pot (this way, no paste gets wasted!)

Combine thoroughly, add more water till pot is over half-full, turn heat to lowest possible setting, place a lid on the pot, slightly askew and simmer all day.  (3-5 hours)

Make sure it doesn’t scorch, check and stir occasionally, adding water if necessary.

After about 2 hours, taste sauce.  Add salt and/or pepper to taste.

Tip: about halfway through cooking, use a hand blender, to puree your sauce to an even smoother finish.  This is especially nice if you have kids or grownups who don’t like to see onion pieces in their food.

Double or triple the recipe, cook in a large stock pot and freeze for later use.

Brown and drain any type of ground meat, ground beef or veal or sausage and add about an hour before serving.

Pork, sausage, and the benefits of being frugal

 First, if you are a vegetarian, please be warned, the pictures are quite graphic!

Anytime we find pork roast on sale, we snatch up a few and grind it! We purchased our meat grinder years ago, and it has more than paid for itself in the long run.  We've made many different kinds of sausage, from Spicy Italian to Brats to Chicken Sausage, but our favorite is plain breakfast sausage.  The stuff you buy in the store is tasty, but it's high in sodium, has lots of preservatives and added ingredients that we don't believe should be in our food.  And this just ends up cheaper!

Take the roast, and trim away as much meat as you can, cutting it into workable chunks that will fit into the grinder. Whenever we find a boneless roast on sale, well, BONUS!

 This is the meat grinder we bought years ago.  It's been through alot!!

 Grind up the pork, either once for a chunkier grind, or grind twice for a finer texture. We like chunks.


We trim away most of the fat, but not too much, because that fat helps keep your meat moist.

 Now that you have some beautiful ground pork, you can freeze it just like this:

 Or you can make sausage.

Breakfast sausage

For each pound of ground pork, use
1 clove garlic, crushed
1-2 teaspoons red chili flakes. (as hot or mild as you like!)
2-4 TABLESPOONS rubbed sage
Salt and/or pepper to taste

1/4 cup vegetable oil (optional, but if you trimmed your pork of its fat, this vegetable oil will help moisten your finished product)

Mix this all together. I mix all my spices into the vegetable oil first, then mix into the meat, it seems to mix easier that way.  Cook up a small sample to test but keep in mind that the flavors will blend and mellow a bit if this is frozen.


We make 5-10 pounds at a time, depending on what we find on sale, and freeze them in packages.
Which brings me to our other nifty gadget, our FoodSaver.  We purchased this years ago. and it has paid paid for itself several times, allowing us to buy in bulk, freeze and not worry about waste. 
 
You can also freeze these in regular zippered freezer bags, just be sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.

Hot off the grill!

 A casual, simple, and yet tasty meal can be cooked up on your outdoor grill, no matter what size!  Shrimp and vegetables, seasoned very lightly so their flavors shine.  Start with the Artichokes, as they take the longest. Trim the stem, if it looks dry, then use kitchen shears to trim the points of the leaves. After grilling, wrap in foil to keep warm while grilling everything else.  You can make as much or as little of the marinade as you like, so that you may brush the other vegetables with it, and use it as a dip when you eat the artichoke.

The shrimp is very simply seasoned, although you can add salt and/or pepper as you like.  Whenever you use wood skewers, be sure to pre-soak them so they don't burn.


Grilled Artichokes
2 large artichokes
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
Trim and wash artichokes, boil for 15 minutes,cut in half lengthwise, then place on hot grill, brush with olive oil mixture, turn a few times until artichokes are nicely charred, a total of about 10 minutes.

 Grilled Shrimp
1-2 lbs medium-sized shrimp, peeled and de-veined
Cayenne Pepper or Mild Chili Powder
 Juice of 1 lemon

Sprinkle shrimp with cayenne, as liberally (or not) as you like.  Thread onto skewers,place on hot grill, squeezing lemon juice as they cook, 3-5 minutes each side.

Grilled Veggies

Grape tomatoes, sweet onion, mushrooms, (or bell peppers or zucchini, use your imagination) threaded onto skewers and grilled over hot coals are a simple, tasty way to enjoy fresh veggies.  Use some of the marinade from the artichokes above, or bottled Italian Salad Dressing, or just a light brush with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and/or pepper. 

Let everyone pile their plates with the sticks of their choosing! 
It's almost all finger food! 

The Aftermath