Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Simple Tomato Sauce

Brooke says that I have a hard time cooking the same thing twice, and that's mostly true. There are so many delicious flavors to taste out there, why would you limit yourself to a standard weekly or monthly menu? I do keep a chart of everything I cook that I'd like to cook again. When I'm stuck I open it up and see what sounds good (to date it has about 60 tried and true recipes in it). That being said, this basic tomato sauce is one of my stand-by's. I probably make this once every two weeks or so.

With this easy recipe, you'll never have to buy pasta sauce in a jar again! It's so easy, fast, and tasty you'll wonder how so few ingredients can make your tummy so happy. I like to serve this with conchiglie pasta (shell looking) since it catches nice little bowls of sauce. I use the basil from the plant I keep on the window sill, which makes this a super cheap dinner, but even if you have to buy basil at the store it's still a winner!

Serves 4
$10

Ingredients
  • 1x14 oz can organic whole tomatoes
  • 2 cloves organic garlic - diced or pressed
  • a pinch of sugar
  • a pinch of salt
  • a dozen fresh organic basil leaves - torn
  • 2 glugs of olive oil
  • 16 oz pasta of choice
Directions
  1. Pour the tomatoes with the juice from the pan into a 12 inch pan
  2. Add the garlic, sugar and salt. Cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes
  3. Put your water on to boil and cook your pasta according to the directions
  4. Smash up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon or potato masher (basically just do what it takes to squish the tomato up!)
  5. Add in the olive and basil leaves and stir it all up
  6. Enjoy!