• Getting Saucy

    by Vbar • August 31, 2009 • pasta, sauces, vegetarian • 2 Comments



    It is (sadly) the end of summer. But before the colder months officially set in there is one of my favorite foodie seasons- tomato season. Tomatoes are gorgeous right now- and the crows have been snacking on big, plump, brightly colored heirlooms sliced onto fresh bread.

    I engaged in my own personal end-of-summer tradition this weekend- getting saucy. Off of tomatoes. Let me explain. I am a total marinara sauce snob- a product of being lucky enough to grow up in a Sicilian family where having jarred sauce in the pantry was the embarrassing equivalent to a dirty bathroom or being out of salt. Simply not done. Every summer my mother would cook an enormous pot of marinara sauce with the tomatoes she grew in her own garden and then freeze individual portions in her large basement freezer. That way there would always be fresh homemade sauce all winter- for pasta, lasagna, eggplant parm- where ever it was called for. And I became spoiled.
    So now I follow suite, making my own sauce at the end of every summer. This year I made a total of 7 quarts; from roughly 16 lbs of fresh (although regretfully not homegrown) roma tomatoes. And although my mother’s and my grandmother’s sauces put mine to total shame, at very least the ten perfectly stacked portions of sauce in my freezer right now assure me that there will be no need for jarred sauce in this apartment this winter.

    There is no exact recipe here for this marinara- for things like wine, paste, salt, pepper and basil you have to just taste and add as you cook. But basically for 7 quarts of marinara sauce I used:
    16 lbs fresh roma tomatoes, diced with skin on
    1 can tomato paste
    2 medium yellow onions
    1 1/2 heads of garlic.
    1 large bunch of garlic
    1-2 cups of red wine.
    Absolutely, positively, never any sugar. This is law. I don’t think I really need to explain.
    Total from start to finish this whole operation took me about 1:45- about an hour for prep and to get it started and about 45 minutes to simmer. I tossed some of the fresh sauce with spaghetti and topped with grated parm- served up simple with a side salad. A delicious way to celebrate the close of my favorite season.
    Mangia bene!

    About Vbar

    The Story of VBar

    Told by Riane

    Vanessa (VBar) Barton is a crow near and dear to my heart, although we often find her soaring the globe. Vanessa’s true passion is traveling; her most recent adventure brought her to India where she had been yearning to go for years. She will undoubtedly picks up a few tricks on her Indian adventure and always incorporates her cultural findings into her own culinary repertoire. I can’t help but draw the conclusion that this 'spice monster' developed her palette from her exotic adventures, I (and I know her boyfriend Mark has my back on this one) have definitely had to bring this heat crazed crow down a notch, after nearly catching my mouth on fire. But I have to say, I’ve gotten her back with another flavour; being a huge fan of mushrooms, I have forced VBar, on more than one occasion, to get past her inhibitions and eat whatever mushroom laden dish myself and the other crows have created. Well hats off to you Vanessa, who can now confidently say ‘I don’t mind mushrooms’ from her initial, ‘I hate mushrooms.’ On that same note, she’s the only vegetarian of the group but is slowly warming up to meats, given her sister crows’ influences. Proud’a you.

    Her second passion is cooking which emanates with her Italian heritage. Her Sicilian roots are evident in her flair in the kitchen, often cooking up Italian classics including, but definitely not limited to: Homemade marinara, not to mention PASTA like her Sicilian Grandma used to make (which has been borrowed on more than one occasion), pumpkin risotto, tiramisu and even homemade limoncello! She’s a crafty crow, jarring her own sauces, tackling homemade booze and even growing her own kitchen herb garden. Always ready with open arms and a delicious cocktail, VBar is the Italian flair in our flock.

    http://crowsinthekitchen.com

    2 Responses to Getting Saucy

    1. Holly
      September 1, 2009 at 6:49 am

      mmm that sauce was fab- so wasn't the 3 bottles of evodia wine!

    2. emily
      September 1, 2009 at 2:34 pm

      Love it! Have you ever tried canning it?

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