Mrs. B. My Guest

Food Challenge

My oldest stepson Kevin came over for the day yesterday. I asked him what he would like for dinner, he said, "Chicken parmesan." To me, this was a food challenge. Chicken parm happens to be Kevin's favorite meal AND one I've never made before . . . so it had to be good. Not that there's a lot to it . . .breaded chicken cutlets over pasta with a red sauce, but if you think I was just going to use any ordinary jarred sauce on it, you're wrong! I was all about making the sauce too. (another thing I've never made before)

I found this super simple recipe on the Food Network Website for the red sauce. The one thing that drew me to this recipe was the fact that I got to use my food processor. Everyone makes a red sauce a little differently. This recipe was interesting because it had carrots and celery in it. Who knew? My favorite thing about it was the fresh basil that went into it. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, fresh basil. After tasting the sauce I decided this is definitely going to be my "go to" red sauce recipe from now on. John and Kevin absolutely loved it!

Simple Tomato Sauce

~1/2 cup EVOO

~1 small onion chopped

~2 cloves garlic, chopped

~1 stalk celery, chopped

~1 carrot, chopped

~Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

~2 (32 oz) can crushed tomato

~4 to 6 basil leaves

~2 bay leaves

~unsalted butter (these two ingredients are to cut the acidic taste)

~sugar (sugar wasn't part of the recipe, but I used a little, along with the butter to help cut the acidic taste)

Directions

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors. (I added 2 tablespoons of butter and some sugar.) Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce. If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months