tomato sauce

Over the weekend at SF Chefs, I watched Italian stallion Cesare Casella (who flew in from New York for the occasion) demonstrate how to make the perfect pasta pomodoro. A native of Tuscany, Casella started by sautéing red onions and guanciale in a large pot. It seemed like there was nothing too special about his technique for cooking the classic Italian sauce, until he dumped the uncooked spaghetti into the bubbling tomato mixture!

In order for the pasta to really soak up the flavor of the tomatoes and aromatics, he recommends cooking it not in a pot of boiling water, but in the sauce itself. Thin the sauce with water and stir the pasta every now and then (like you would risotto) to ensure that it doesn't stick to the pan. Cook time for the spaghetti will take longer (about 15 minutes), but it's worth the effort. I tasted the finished pomodoro and it was amazing! Have you ever made pasta in the sauce rather than in boiling water?

Source: Flickr User citymama

Although there are supermarket aisles filled with hundreds of different jars of tomato sauce, every now and then, it's rewarding to make your own. The thick sauce simmering on the stove warms the kitchen and fills the house with a delectable aroma.

This wonderful recipe makes a huge batch of sauce, so you can use some now and freeze the rest for later. The base of the sauce is a classic mirepoix, plus garlic and tons of fresh herbs. The resulting sauce is rich, slightly sweet, and one of the best tomato sauces I've ever tasted.

It's delicious simply tossed with spaghetti, but it's also great in dishes like lasagna, pizza, and eggs in purgatory. To check out the recipe, which comes from chef Marco Canora's cookbook, keep reading.

What's a girl to do with 50 pounds of very ripe Early Girl tomatoes? After a canning adventure, I found myself asking that question. One could make any manner of gourmet things, from slow-cooked jam to a tomato tart. But knowing that off-the-vine tomatoes were on the cusp of withering away, I couldn't enjoy them with anything but the simplest, most unadulterated preparations.

For lunch, it was a classic Caprese salad. For a snack, tomato salsa with a blazing jalapeño kick. And for dinner, the pièce de résistance: an understated bowl of linguine with barely-cooked tomato sauce.

The tomato sauce fits the season perfectly. It has the dribbling juiciness of a raw tomato, but the heavier body of a classic pomodoro sauce. I drizzled the finished product with a fruity olive oil, and a sweet fragrance hung over every bite I savored. It was good enough to be dinner one night, then breakfast the next day. Do the same with your tomatoes when you get the recipe.

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Lately I don't know what's gotten into me, but I simply can't get enough shrimp. I crave the succulent pink shellfish constantly. To feed a recent hunger for spicy, finger-licking-good shrimp, I made this amazing fra diavolo recipe.

Fra diavolo usually refers to a red-pepper-flaked tomato sauce with origins in the Italian-American kitchen. It can be used to season pasta or seafood. When making this scrumptious dish it's important to have your mise en place. The shrimp and sauce come together quickly, so there isn't much time to chop herbs in between the steps.

A wonderfully fragrant aroma fills the kitchen and the result is shrimp that is juicy, savory, and spicy. Serve it with something that will soak up the flavorful sauce: bread, pasta, rice, or as I did, couscous. I promise you won't be disappointed in the recipe — get it now.

Although it may seem impossible or just simply ironic, this quick braised chicken comes together in under half an hour. Traditionally, for a dish to be considered a braise, it must be browned and then slow-cooked for a long period of time.

However, it's 2010, and if you want to braise flavorful chicken legs in a tomato, mushroom, and onion sauce for a mere 15 minutes, go right ahead! The recipe serves the saucy chicken over white rice, but feel free to pair with brown rice, mashed potatoes, or noodles. Learn the method when you read more

If you love pizza — and who doesn't love pizza? Everyone does! — you are going to go Lady Gaga for this dip. It's like pepperoni pizza, but in liquid form. It's incredibly easy to make and is just the thing to put on your Super Bowl menu.

I recently served it a party and marveled when every guest first tasted it. "What is this?" they asked, "It tastes just like pizza!" I replied back cleverly, "Well that's because it's pizza dip."

Seriously, I don't know why I waited a whole 28 years before trying this dip. It's beyond amazing. It's cheesy, spicy, and comforting. You simply must make it. Get the recipe now!

The other day my sister was browsing the December issue of Food & Wine magazine and said, "We should make these baked eggs for breakfast sometime." She uses the term "we" loosely, and really meant "I" should make the eggs for her. Luckily, I took one look at the recipe and instantly wanted to make them! Cooked in a quick tomato sauce, these eggs are simple, but wildly delicious and very satisfying. They are easy to overcook, so take care and remove them from the oven the moment the white is just set; the eggs will continue to cook a little once out of the oven. Do serve with rustic bread, you'll definitely want to mop up the yolky, fragrant sauce. To enjoy these eggs over the weekend, get the recipe and read more