Tomato and Basil Sauce - Salsa Di Pomodoro E Basilico

Linda's Busy Kitchen's Note:

This sauce is ready in no time, and flavors are great! Pour over your favorite pasta! From the kitchen of Mary Ann Esposito, cooking show chef for Ciao Italia.

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 9.5 -10 cups

• 5 lbs ripe plum tomatoes or 3 (28 ounce) cans crushed plum tomatoes, with their liquid
• 1/2 cup colavita extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt, to taste
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 6 -8 leaves fresh basil

Directions:

1. If using fresh tomatoes, core them, cut them into coarse chunks, and puree them in a food processor, blender, or food mill until smooth. Strain the flesh of canned tomatoes through a fine sieve, to remove skins and seeds. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pot, and cook the onion over a medium heat, stirring, until soft.
3. Add the garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until it becomes soft. Do not let the garlic brown, or an acid taste will be imparted in the sauce.
4. Add the remaining ingredients, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until thickened, about 15 minutes.

Reviews

[ridergirl]

Made this wonderful sauce tonight. Best I have ever had. My "OH SO PICKY" Teenager raved about it. I did only use 1 tble spoon of sugar though, otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. To the basic sauce I added sundried tomatos and chicken over the pasta and topped it with some of this sauce, DELICIOUS !!!! I will be using this recipe for a very long time ... 5 stars ...

[BluEyedCookette]

Truly a gem of a recipe this is! Simple sauce with just the right flavors that we all loved! True Italian gravy all the way! Make sure you use the plum tomaotes as they don't have as much juice as regular tomatoes and makes the sauce more concentrated and tasty!

[magpie diner]

I almost always make sauce this way, nice to actually have some measurements to work with this time! Delish, simple and so fresh and tasty. I didn't add all the sugar, maybe 1 tbsp instead. I only had tinned diced plum tomatoes on hand, so I made up the sauce and used the immersion blender to make it nice and smooth. Made 'Authentic Italian Meatballs' with it for the meat eaterns in the house. Thanks so much Linda!