Zesty Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

I finally found a few of my old posts/recipes. This is a zesty sun-dried tomato sauce that I make regularly for pasta.

On Friday night, I broadcasted and made this robust sauce live on Justin.tv. I decided to make something low key as I don’t want to be laboring in the kitchen all night long to appease my fellow viewers. I pulled out one of my most reliable recipe that I know. It’s so versatile that I use this sun-dried tomato sauce on all sorts of pasta, including raviolis.

I make this frequently during week nights. Making homemade tomato sauce with pasta takes about 30-45 minutes. You don’t need alot of fancy ingredients to make a good sauce.

I got the large jar of sun-dried tomatoes at Costco. It’s halved tomatoes soaked in olive oil with Italian herbs. This is my must have item for the kitchen pantry.

The chopped garlic and onions are also very important in this sauce. I cooked them down so they are soft and tender before adding the tomato sauce to the pan. The sweetness from the onions lends perfect harmony to the acidity of the tomatoes.

The sun-dried tomatoes get a blender treatment. You can hand chop it or use a food processor as well. I add 1/4 cup of water to make the blending easier.

Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup of pureed sun-dried tomato
• 1 can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 3 tsp. chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 2 tsp. dried basil
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup water (depending on how thick you want your sauce)
• 2 tsp. white sugar
• 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
• salt to taste

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, add some oil saute the chopped garlic and onions until the onions are soft but not brown. This will take about 5-7 minutes.
2. Add the pureed tomato sauce, canned tomato sauce, water, dried oregano, dried basil, sugar, and salt to the pan. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan if necessary to avoid splatter. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes and stir occasionally.
3. Add the olive oil to the sauce and turn off heat.
4. Serve over pasta and enjoy.

Variations:

• To make it spicy, add some dried red pepper flakes to the sauce and let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• For a Mediterranean twist, add some chopped olives to the tomato sauce, and sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.
• You can add meatballs, chicken, seafood to the sauce for a heartier meal.
• This is also a great sauce for dipping!