Silky Red Pepper Sauce

You can serve this sauce with grilled vegetables, roulades, frittatas, or pastas or wherever its sweet brightness is called for. Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

• Ready In: 50 mins
• Yields: 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients

• 3  large red bell peppers, roasted
• 2  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1  onion, minced
• 3  tablespoons fresh basil (or 1 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh marjoram (or 1 tsp. dried)
•  salt
• 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
• 1⁄4 cup tomato puree
• 2  cups water (or vegetable stock)
• 2 -3  teaspoons white wine vinegar (or lemon juice)
• 1  tablespoon butter (optional)

Directions

1. Coarsely chop the peeled peppers.
2. Warm the olive oil in a medium skillet with the onion and half the herbs. Add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook over medium heat until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and cook until it's syrupy, then add the tomato puree, paste, and water.
3. Simmer, covered, for 25 minutes.
4. Puree, then pass through a food mill.
5. Season to tastte with the vinegar and stir in the butter(it rounds the flavors and gives the sauce a silky sheen).
6. Reheat before serving and stir in the remaining herbs at the last minute.