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Friday, June 15, 2012

Italian Parsley Tomato Sauce

This guy is very much like many of my other, previously-mentioned, tomato-based sauces; indeed, it is almost identical to my Rustico Pomodoro e Basilico which I just mentioned last month.

The variation here, however, is the wonderful situation of Italian Parsley in centre stage!


<applause> 
<woot!>
<applause>
<I want to have your babies Italian Parsley!!>
<applause>


He can certainly do it.  He's very versatile, but still unique and distinguished.  He's going to turn this rather plain tomato and garlic sauce into a savoury, summery smorgasbord of freshness.


So... standard prep for the sauce.



First chop, then puree, the garlic and onion, and get that sauteing on low for now.  In extra virgin olive oil, of course.




Then start doing the same with the tomatoes, in batches.  I'm using some nice, firm, roma tomatoes for this sauce tonight.  Romas are great for mulching up and have a relatively low seed quotient.  This makes them robust and meaty when pureed.


Although most of the parsley is going to be added a little bit later, in coarsely-chopped form, I'm going to throw just a tad in here now, to mingle with the tomatoes.



Gradually add this to the saute pan, stirring often.




I decided about half-way through cooking this meal that I would in fact want to toss my pasta noodles in the sauce, so I did something I don't often do at all, and I dirtied another pan.


:D


I'm sure it's become apparent to you that I'm a fairly big fan of efficiency.  Well, sometimes efficiency needs to take a hit for the greater good.  :(


So, we're going to turn this pan up to medium now, and get things cookin'.


Chop the remaining parsley relatively coarsely.




And stir that in.




Next we're going to add our ancillary, complementary, spices, which today include a touch of oregano, a dash of black pepper, and a pinch of pink salt.




Once you've given this all a great mixing, put a lid on it, and let it simmer for a while, picking up heat and evening itself all out.



After about 5 minutes or so, toss your noodles in, whatever your choice might be (I am just going with a cheap rigatoni tonight) and make sure you coat them all very evenly.  This will likely require extensive mixing about.




But eventually the sauce will be evenly distributed among the noodles.




We're good to plate that now.  Feel free to grate some Parmigiano Reggiano on there if you like, but regardless it's good to go.  And it only took about 20 minutes.




But it's absolutely delicious!  


A perfect summery pasta for a warm summer's evening.


Take a bow Italian Parsley!!