RED SAUCE

RED SAUCE

INGREDIENTS

12 oz Olive Oil

8 oz Mushrooms

3 28 oz cans whole tomatoes, strained

1 medium Onion, rough chopped

1 head of garlic, peeled

6-8 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme, picked

6-8 Sprigs of Fresh Oregano, picked

8-10 Fresh Big Basil Leaves

Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Cover mushrooms in Olive Oil and cook at 175 for two hours. If you have an unpredictable oven, typically the lowest setting will get you there. Try to stay under 200. Remove the mushrooms from the oil and set oil aside. You can save the mushrooms for other things, eat them as they are, or put them in any dish. You do not need them for the sauce. 

In a roasting pan or casserole dish, spread out peeled garlic and chopped onion in a thin layer. Next, layer basil, thyme, and oregano. Lastly, layer the tomatoes evenly on top, one tomato deep max. 

Evenly cover everything with the mushroom oil. The onions and herbs should be submerged, and the oil should just be at most half way up the tomatoes. 

Roast at 400 for 30-45 minutes until there is light color on the tomatoes. The oil will be boiling and dangerous, be very careful when taking this out of the oven!

Let cool for about 30 minutes, or until safe enough to work with.

Strain the oil from the pan and move all solids to a sauce pot. Set the oil aside, do not throw it out. Remove thyme sprigs. 

Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce. Don’t overblend and go too smooth, get to a point that there are no recognizable large chunks, but it still has some heft. 

Simmer on low covered for 1 hour, uncovered for 4 hours, stirring occasionally throughout. Salt to taste just before serving. 

Sauce will be good in the fridge for about a week, or frozen for three months.

If the sauce needs a touch of fat when you taste it, pour some of the sauce oil you saved back in. You can keep this oil in the fridge for a few weeks and use as you like. We like frying meatballs in it and dipping bread in it. It has all kinds of delicious uses.