We are going to back to our study of
sauces with tomato based sauces. I like
to group other sauces made from vegetables in this category. Although most of the sauces falling into this
grouping are based on pureed tomatoes, some are made from other pureed vegetables. This is where your creativity can go wild.
Tomato sauce
Tomatoes make the majority of the
ingredients. Tomatoes can be raw or
cook, fresh, canned, sun-dried, or oven roasted. The tomatoes can be cooked into a sauce or
diced. What gives the sauce its
originality is what is used to season the tomatoes or other ingredients add to
the sauce. Tomato sauces can be cook
over a long time or barely cooked at all.
Since tomatoes are the main
ingredient in the sauce, start with good fresh tomatoes or a canned tomatoes by
a good brand. Your sauce can only be as
good as your ingredients. The difference
between using great ingredients, and so-so ingredients can be profound.
Vegetable Sauces
Other vegetables can be used to make
sauces, much in the same way as tomato sauces.
One that comes to mind is Tomatillo Sauce. My recipe calls for the ingredients to be oven
roasted and then pureed. I have seen
recipes that are cooked very similar to marinara sauce. My niece made a great pasta sauce from
butternut squash and I made one from pumpkin.
Vegetable sauce can add a touch of
color to your dish. It can be a fun way
of introducing vegetables, too. Picky
eaters may be enticed to eat their vegetable in a less recognizable form. An example would be a sauce of pureed peas or
one of carrots.
Pureed sauces
Sauce can be made simple by blending
fruits or vegetable into a puree. Green
peas make a beautiful sauce. This is how
fruit sauces are made. For instance
Melba sauce is simply pureed raspberries.
Pureed sauces can be savory or sweet. They can be used to make add a sweet element
to the dish, add inviting color to the presentation, or
Types of sauces in this
category
Different cuisines and regions have
their own spin on the classic pasta sauce.
There are French, Italian, Mexican, Indian, Great Britain, Australia and
New Zealand, Middle Eastern, and American.
Napolitano Sauce, Marinara, Enchilada, Tomatillo, Mole, Tikka Masala, Barbecue Sauce, Ketchup, Tomato Gravy, Celery Sauce,
Chasseur Sauce, Choron Sauce, Duxelles Sauce, Godard Sauce,
Provençal Sauce, Tomatoed Soubise Sauce, Ragu, Chili Sauce, Cocktail Sauce,
Melba Sauce, and Mint Sauce.
This Week’s Challenge - Make
a Marinara sauce
1) Make a simple Marinara sauce and add
some ingredients to make it your special sauce.
It can be some kind of meat or favorite vegetable or herbs. Be creative.
I had an eggplant that need to be cooked, so I diced it and cooked it in
marinara sauce. As it cooked it fell
apart and blended into a wonderful thick sauce that I used on homemade
pizza. It would have been great on any
pasta.
2) Try making one of the sauces
listed above. It can be a new sauce that
you have never tried before. You need to
research it. It could be helpful to see
a picture so you know what the sauce is supposed to be like.
Tips for this Week – Don’t overcook
your sauce
In the old days we cooked and simmered
the sauce for days. Tomato sauces don’t
need to be continuously cooked to bring out the flavors. Simply cook your sauce and allow it to
cool. Then refrigerate it
overnight. This allows the flavors to
come out, blend and permeate. We have all
heard “it is better the next day” and this is why.
Cook tomato sauce over low heat and
stir often. Tomato sauce can have a
tendency to scorch, stick and burn on the bottom. So watch the heat carefully.
Over cooking can turn the sauce dark. Too much oil or fat can do this too. It is best to cook the meat separately and
add the meat to the sauce shortly before serving. It is important to season the meat while
cooking.
Some have a lower tolerance to these spicy
sauces due to the acid. The acid can be
cut by adding a pinch or two of baking powder.
Some like to add sugar to cut the acid.
Personally, I prefer baking powder it doesn’t change the flavor like
sugar does. Baking powder is much better
in counteracting acid. Sugar turns to
acid, so it may taste pleasant, but the chemical action is not there.
This Week in Punkin’s
Kitchen
Marinara Sauce
Based
on the recipe by Lidia Bastianich Lidia’s Commonsense Italian Cooking, (Knopf
2013)
 |
| Marinara with mushrooms and peppers |
1
can Tomato sauce or diced tomatoes
(28 oz.)
1 C Water
¼ C Olive oil
7-9 Garlic cloves, peeled and
slivered
Pinch Chile flakes, crushed
1 t Salt
1
lg. Basil sprig or ¼ t
dried oregano
Pinch
Baking soda or ½ t
sugar
 |
| The ingredients |
1. In
large skillet, add the oil and sauté the garlic.
2. When
the garlic is sizzling, add the tomatoes to the garlic.
3. Add
one cup of water to the tomato can and add to the tomatoes.
 |
| Use a brand that you trust. It can be tomato sauce or diced tomatoes |
 |
| I like to use a skillet. This gives a large surface for evaporation. As the steam escapes, water is removed and the sauce thickens. |
4. Add
the chile flakes, oregano (if using) and the salt and stir.
 |
| Add the seasonings and simmer. |
 |
| I added sliced mushrooms and diced bell peppers to the sauce at this point. I cooked the sauce until the vegetables were well cooked. |
 |
| I added fresh basil |
5. Place
the sprig of basil on top.
6. Simmer
about 15 minutes or until the oil at the edges turns a deep orange.
7. Taste
and adjust the seasonings. If too
acidic, add the baking soda or sugar.
Tomatillo Sauce
Based
on Melissa d’Arabian’s recipe http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/tomatillo-sauce-recipe.html
 |
| The ingredients |
1
lb. Tomatillos, dehusked and washed
3 Garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 Anaheim chile, deseeded and deveined
1 Onion, quartered
1
sm. Jalapeno, deseeded and deveined
2
T olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 Lime, juiced
 |
| This is a tomatillo with the husk on. |
 |
| The husk is easily removed. Wash the tomatillo thoroughly. |
1.
Preheat
the oven to 350 degrees.
2.
Line
a baking sheet with foil.
3.
Place
the tomatillos, onion and chiles on the baking sheet.
 |
| I found the garlic cloves were over cooked. I would add the later after the vegetables have roast about half the time. |
4.
Sprinkle
with oil and rub into the vegetables.
5.
Sprinkle
with salt and pepper.
6.
Roast
for 30 minutes or until the tomatillos turn dark green.
7.
Half
way through the roasting add the unpeeled garlic cloves and continue roasting
until the tomatillos are dark green.
 |
| The vegetable are roasted, |
8.
Allow
the vegetables to cool slightly.
9.
Peel
the garlic.
10. Add the vegetables to
a blender and blend until smooth.
 |
| I used a blender, but the vegetables can be placed in a pot and a stick blender used. |
11. Add the lime juice.
 |
| Blend until smooth. This sauce is thin, but it can be simmer over very low heat the thicken it. |
12. Taste and add more
salt and pepper if needed.
Soup of the Week
Turkey Quinoa Spinach Soup
 |
| Add caption |
¼ C Quinoa
or super grain blend with quinoa
2 cans Chicken broth
2 C Spinach, fresh or basil
1 t Herb of choice, I used dried
tarragon leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Basil leaves, chiffonade
for garnish
Parmesan, freshly grated
(optional)
 |
| The ingredients |
1. In a
small pot, add the turkey and one can of broth.
Bring to a simmer.
 |
| Turkey in chicken broth and the Super Grain Blend added. Super Grain Blend has quinoa, millet, buckwheat and red quinoa. |
2. Add
the quinoa and cook according to the directions on the package, about 12-15
minutes.
3. When
the grains are cooked, add more both if necessary and bring to a simmer.
4. Stir
in the fresh spinach and cook a few minutes.
 |
| Spinach added. |
5. Serve
with a garnish of basil and/or Parmesan.
 |
| Add enough broth to make the soup. |
Original
recipe
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