Spoon Lickin' Herb Tomato Sauce

Feeling Italian tonight? Pour a glass of wine and whip together this simple yet oh so luscious herb tomato sauce. The secret to the thick flavorful sauce is the roux, a thickening agent used in three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté and sauce espagnole. Usually it is equal parts of flour and fat. Another little French term that is used in recipes is Mirepoix, (pronounced “meer pwah”) A combination of onions 50%, carrots, 25% and celery 25% are the commonly used aromatics. Toss in some garlic and you will be saying Mangia, Mangia!

Chef Joe’s Herb Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbs Olive Oil

6 oz bacon, diced

1 small onion, small or large dice for desired chunkiness

1 small carrot, small or large dice for desired chunkiness

1 stalk celery, small or large dice for desired chunkiness

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 Roma Tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbs tomato paste

1/2 C tomato juice

1/3-1/2 cup flour

1-2 Cups water

1 C broccoli florets, bite size

Mini Penne Pasta

3/4 C fresh chopped herbs (parsley, basil, rosemary, oregano & thyme)

Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cut broccoli florets from stalk into bite size pieces and blanch for 30 sec-1 min. Shock in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and keep bright green color. Core and score the end of the Roma tomatoes with an X and blanch until you see the peel start to come away from the tomato, about 3 minutes. Shock the tomatoes in an ice water bath and then remove the peels and chop. Set the broccoli and tomatoes aside for later. Cook the pasta until it is al dente, about 7-8 minutes, and shock briefly in an ice water bath. Drain pasta and place in a large bowl and set aside.

To make the sauce, add olive oil to a large sauce pot and cook the bacon until the fat has been rendered from it. Remove the bacon and add the mirepoix and garlic to the pot and sauté until tender. Depending on the amount of fat from the bacon you may want to add a little more olive oil to the pot so that you have enough fat to flour ratio to create the roux. Sprinkle the flour a little at a time to the mixture to create a roux and cook several minutes so that the raw flour taste has been cooked out. Add the blanched tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato juice and paste to the mixture and simmer for 2 minutes. Add water to the tomato mixture until you have the desired thickness for your sauce. The thickness of your sauce is a personal preference. Simmer the sauce for 15-20 minutes. Add the bacon back into the sauce. Season the sauce with salt and pepper to your taste. Add the blanched broccoli, cooked pasta and herbs to the sauce to heat through during the last 5 minutes of cooking.