Tag Archives: onion

RECIPE – Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1 32 oz. can Italian plum tomatoes (with basil leaf)
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt & pepper

Directions

Chop onion and saute slowly in olive oil. Halfway through, add sliced garlic. Cook onion and garlic until soft, but not browned.

Meanwhile, empty tomatoes into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.

When onions and garlic are done, add them to the tomatoes and position a food mill over the now-emptied saucepan. Put tomato mixture through food mill and strain through.

Cook slowly for 15 minutes to an hour, depending on your taste. During last few minutes, add salt and pepper.

Read my observations.

RECIPE – Chicken Marsala

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. chicken breast (or tenders)
  • 2 TBSP or olive oil (or butter)
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
  • 1 small onion (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup Marsala wine
  • 1/2 cup chicken broth
  • 1 TBSP cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 garlic powder
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • 3/4 lb. pasta

Directions

Pound chicken until 1/2 to 1/4 inch thick. Salt and pepper both sides of each piece. Dredge through flour, shake off extra and place in large (coverable) skillet with oil. Brown chicken pieces on both sides and remove from pan.

In remaining oil, saute mushroom and onion until fairly tender, but not browned. Meanwhile, mix broth, cornstarch, garlic powder, salt and lemon juice in separate bowl. When mushroom and onion are ready, return chicken to the pan and add Marsala. Bring to a boil.

Add cornstarch mixture to pan and bring to another boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer everything 10 minutes or until sauce thickens and chicken is properly cooked through. Serve over your favorite pasta or rice.

Read my observations.

Best. Tomato Sauce. Ever.

Nothing like a little hyperbole to start your engines!

Anyway, I’m not going to pretend that homemade sauce will ever be equaled by a bottled sauce. (By the way, here’s my recipe.) However, if the sauce in question has the same ingredients and tastes oodles better than that average Ragu swill, well, you’ve got something special on your hands.

When, during the course of human events, one must actually used a bottled sauce, you should look for not more than seven ingredients:

1. Tomatoes (duh!)
2. Olive oil
3. Onion
4. Garlic
5. Basil
6. Salt (preferably Sea)
7. Pepper

Everything should be fresh. But, even more important is what should not be in the sauce: tomato paste. When you see this on a bottle, go home and cry. You’re better off frying up some tomatoes in olive oil with a sprinkle of Parmesan.

Personally, I’ve always been a Rao‘s man. Great sauce, no doubt. But this new one is a contender and the price is a few bucks cheaper than the big R.

It’s called Paesana Marinara and it just blew my mind.

Ciao!