Sunday gravy 🍝

#sunday #pasta #pastarecipe #italianfood #dinner

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 3 Tbs tomato paste

• 2 (24 oz) cans of whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes

• 4-6 large cloves of garlic, peeled

• Red wine to taste

• 3 generous pinches of sea salt

• 1/2 white or yellow onion

• 1 red bell pepper

• 1 jalapeño, Serrano, or spicy pepper of choice (chop for spicy, keep whole for more mild)

• Fresh basil (reserve some for garnish)

• Grated Pecorino Romano or Parmigiana for garnish

Directions:

1.) Roughly chop onion and bell pepper and set aside

2.) In a large pot, heat up the extra virgin olive oil. Once hot, throw in your basil and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Add the spicy pepper and cook until fragrant. Don’t skip the pepper! Even if you don’t like spice. It gives great flavor. Keep it whole if you like it mild.

3.) Add onion and bell pepper and salt for a second time. Cook until onions are translucent.

4.) Add cloves of garlic. Cook until garlic flavor disperses, careful not to burn it. Appx 1 minute, stirring the entire time.

5.) Add tomato paste and stir and cook for 1 minute. The paste will turn a deep red and the flavor will enhance.

6.) Add the wine, whole peeled tomatoes, stir and crush tomatoes with spoon. Salt one final time.

7.) Cover and simmer for a bit to let all the ingredients “marry” before putting in the blender and blending till smooth. (Remove the pepper before blending) Return to saucepan and cook on medium high heat (lower if you can’t stir it often). You’ll want to cook this for at least an hour and up to 4, stirring occasionally, making sure to cover the saucepan after each stir. The higher the heat, the shorter increments you need. The longer it cooks, the more flavorful it will be and the more the tomatoes will lose the acidity and become sweeter thus more delicious.

**I usually cook my gravy on medium high for 4 hours, stirring every 15 mins so that my Italian ancestors don’t beat me with a wooden spoon. In today’s busy world, an hour is okay. Add a touch of sugar (shh!!!) if it’s a quick sauce and you don’t have time to cook out the acidity.

8.) Serve with your favorite pasta and meatballs or arborio rice and garnish to your heart’s content!