sauce

Basic Red Sauce, Part I (Marinara)

12/01/2016
1 Review (5.00 out of 5)
Serves 12 spaghetti benders
Equipment
large, heavy-bottomed pot
Prep time
25m
Cook Time
1h 30m

Ok, friends.  Here it is: simple, yet soul-satisfying like nothing else.  I like to make a lot (11 or 12 quarts) of this sauce at one time, give some away and freeze a few quarts, you know, for sauce emergencies.  If you have less of an appetite for the Life Force than we do (remember, my stepson prefers to drink his red sauce right from the bowl/pitcher/thermos, and no time of day or night is a bad time for red sauce), just reduce the quantities in proportion.  The flavor will be the same.  There will be many more variations of this recipe to follow, so stay tuned, and keep your questions and comments coming!

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Fresh Parsley Pesto

12/26/2016
Serves countless foodies
Equipment
food processor
Prep time
20m

This is the pesto referenced in the recipe for Vidalia onion soup, but I’m making it a stand-alone recipe because it is a stand-alone dish!  You can and should use this pesto in every way that you would use basil pesto: as a spread on toast or a sandwich, on pasta and pizza, melted onto a chicken breast, steak, or burger, and of course, as a flavor-packing punch to any bowl of soup!  My stepson loves to add it to an otherwise bland egg sandwich for breakfast.  I also use a big heaping spoonful of this pesto to mix into the ricotta layer of lasagna and right into my meatball mixture!  It has all of the things you want to add, already chopped and blended: parsley, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, cheese– this is an all purpose flavor saver!  It freezes well, too, so don’t be afraid of having too much.

By the way, this is also the recipe for basil pesto (just substitute basil for parsley) and kale pesto (substitute kale for parsley and hazelnuts for pine nuts) too.  Pesto is pesto, my friends.  Make it how you like it: love garlic?  Add more.  Don’t like it cheesy?  Add less.  Want it thinner?  Add more oil.  You get the idea.