tomato – Homemade with an Upgrade

Remember how I didn’t blog very much last fall? That’s because I was living it up in Italy! Bobby and I went for two weeks to see Venice and Rome (and Belgium at the beginning of the trip, but that doesn’t really fit the theme). Venice is the most magnificent place I’ve ever been in my whole life, and I miss it constantly. I ate pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner nearly every day, and I have zero regrets. Here’s a quick peek at our trip…is it time for me to go back yet?

Upon returning home, I was obsessed with getting my mom’s recipe for tomato sauce. She’s been working on it for years, and I don’t think I had a proper appreciation for good tomato sauce until I went on this trip. My mom’s sauce is aptly named Tinkered Tomato Sauce, since she experimented with it for so long before getting it just right. It has that bright tomato flavor, deep warm garlic base, and bold spices that are sautéed in olive oil at the beginning of the cooking process to help them become as rich and aromatic as possible. This sauce is good on homemade pizza or as a pasta topping, and it’ll make you want to never buy a jar of sauce off the shelf again. It’s easy to make, too – and you can make an enormous batch and freeze some until you need more.

The holidays and the fall wedding season took over my life when we got back from our trip, so try not to hold it against me that it’s taken me this long to share! Of course, once you taste it, you probably will hold it against me, since it’s that wonderful, but I hope we can get past that. Now go make some and pretend you’re in a gondola, drifting down a canal in Venice as someone feeds you pizza and the gondolier sings…instead of talking on his cell phone like he did for us.

Tinkered Tomato Sauce

Servings 3 cups, before straining

Ingredients

3 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, minced or pressed
2 tsps dried leaf oregano
1 tsp dried leaf basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp crushed dried red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp dried leaf marjoram
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried leaf thyme
1/4 tsp dried ground sage
28 oz can plain crushed tomatoes
dash of fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp parmesan cheese

Instructions

Saute the onion in the olive oil until soft. While it is cooking, crush all the herbs and spices {except the red pepper) with mortar and pestle, and immediately add to the onion (at least 5 mins cooking time for the herbs etc). Stir in the garlic and crushed red pepper and saute for 1 minute longer.
Stir in the remaining ingredients, simmer over low heat for 30 – 45 minutes. Taste and adjust - add more salt if desired.

Can be put through the blender and strained for a smoother sauce (which allows use of chopped instead of crushed tomatoes and a rougher chop of the onion and garlic); it will be quite thin after straining.

This recipe is one of my favorite creations thus far. It happened sort of by accident, ending up in a much different place than it started. The original inspiration was the concept of Pan a la Catalana, and then I started researching recipes, and went a completely different way. I was in the kitchen with my tomatoes and garlic and my baguette, and suddenly I was just adding things to a bowl and tasting and adding some more. I seem to do that a lot lately, which makes me both very excited about what I could create, and very concerned that I’m missing a lot of interesting things that might result from me ever following a recipe properly. But, what would be the fun in that?

The Salsa Bruschetta that has resulted from my impatience and possible over-confidence in the kitchen is fresh, bursting with flavor, and a perfect addition to your favorite tapas recipes – I served it alongside my Baked Patatas Bravas. I used tomato and onion as a base, and added garlic and a bit of balsamic vinaigrette, along with basil, lemon, brown sugar, and olive oil. It’s got a lot of the flavor that you would find in Pan a la Catalana, and in traditional bruschetta, with some sweetness and citrus that really lift the onion and the garlic to make them a little brighter. The lemon and onion are what really take this bruschetta recipe into salsa territory, because there isn’t a lot of salsa-esque heat. I added a pinch of cayenne, but I didn’t want that to overshadow the freshness of the tomatoes and the lemon. If you’re in the mood for something a bit spicier, I’d recommend adding chopped jalapeno to this recipe.

There’s one more element to this particular version of Bruschetta: After I sliced my baguette, I topped the slices with a light drizzle of olive oil, and a sprinkle of Monterey Jack cheese. Next time I may experiment with mozzarella for a caprese-inspired version, but the Monterey Jack worked extraordinarily well with the Salsa Brushetta. It’s the right amount of salty and creamy to pair with the tangy, slightly sweet flavor of the bruschetta. Cheese isn’t typically a part of bruschetta, possibly because that can take it to pizza-bread territory very quickly. I assure you that very little about this Salsa Bruschetta reminds me of pizza. The flavors are much lighter, yet richer and more complex than something you’d find on a pizza. (Unless it’s a very good, very unusual pizza, of course)!

These are definitely best served fresh, when the cheese is still gooey and melted. They do keep in the fridge fairly well overnight, and I have it on good authority that husbands named Bobby find that leftover Salsa Bruschetta makes an excellent afternoon snack. Whether you’re snacking or having your Salsa Bruschetta as part of a meal – perhaps as an interesting starter – this recipe is one you’ll make again and again. It’s very quick to make, and as uncomplicated as something that looks this elegant can get. No one will believe that you knocked the whole thing together in 20 minutes. But they won’t have much time to worry about that, as they’ll be worried about getting another bite before it all disappears.

Salsa Bruschetta

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Ingredients

2 medium tomatoes
1/4 small/medium white onion
1 french baguette
1 clove garlic
1/2 Tbsp olive oil + more for drizzling
1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
3/4 tsp brown sugar
3/4 tsp dried basil
1 dash cracked black pepper
1 1/2 tsps lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 dash cayenne
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack

Instructions

Dice tomatoes and mince garlic, stir together. Chop onions in a smaller dice than the tomatoes and add to the bowl.
2. Slice baguette into thin slices, about 1/4 of an inch thick. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Drizzle olive oil lightly over each. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 4 minutes. You want the bread crisp on the edges, but still a little soft.
3. Add remaining ingredients to the salsa mixture, except the cheese. Stir until well combined. Salt to taste - add more cayenne for a spicier salsa.
4. When baguette slices are done, remove from oven, top each with a little less than 1/2 Tbsp of Monterey Jack, and return to the oven for 2 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
5. Top each baguette with the salsa mixture. Try not to eat the whole batch by yourself.