An Italian Style Sauce

This Italian style sauce has developed over the years. What started out as a carefully followed recipe from some cookbook has morphed into my own version as I played around with the ingredients and the cooking of it. I enjoy cooking this because it is easy and fun in the sense you can experiment a little.

The following is one I cooked the other day which my wife gave a ten for.

Ingredients

The Basics

Every time I create this sauce it will contain the following, only the exact quantities will change.

Three tablespoons of olive oil. I don't measure this. Just splosh it in.

One large onion, finely chopped. I sometimes use two onions. On this occasion it was one

Six Ramiro Peppers, chopped into rough centimetre sized squares. I normally use the ordinary bell peppers, yellow, orange and red. Three of those would do as they are thicker and larger but I found bags of Ramiro peppers cheap in Aldi this time. I don't bother roasting and de-skinning the peppers. It's a faff and the amount that you get left with always seems disappointing.

Three decent sized Courgettes, diced roughly into half a centimetre sized cubes.

About six garlic cloves, roughly chopped. Quantity is down to taste. I like garlic. I used six in this one but I have used more.

Two tins of chopped tomatoes 400g size.

Two to four teaspoons of Italian style dried herbs. This time I used a heaped teaspoon each of Parsley, Oregano and Italian Seasoning which is mostly dried herbs with a bit of dried garlic and seasoning.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

The Additions

Once I have the above all cooking on the hob in a casserole I'll add the following. These are more optional but give the dish its 'personality'. Some I'll miss out altogether at times but will be used fairly frequently. Others are rarer additions.

About six sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped. This dish had these in. Sometimes I will miss them out but they do add a richness. You can get sun-dried tomato paste which works too. For this dish I added some of the oil from the jar.

Pitted olives, sliced or roughly chopped. We like olives so they generally do get added but are not a must. I used a whole jar of sliced pitted olives this time. Pitted olives have less flavour but that means you can use more and since I like the colour and texture that suits me. It is also much easier. Green or black is down to choice. I prefer the black.

Ten cornichons, finely chopped. They add a sharpness and I use them in place of capers which I rarely have in the kitchen.

Juice of half a lemon.

Balsamic Vinegar, a splosh. Be careful, too much can make it too acidic. None went in this dish on this occasion. If it is too acidic a teaspoon of dark sugar can counteract.

Fresh herbs; I used Basil at the very end this time but fresh parsley or oregano are good to add in place of the dried herbs if you have them.

It's the sort of sauce you can play around with. I have added red wine on occasion, red wine vinegar, fresh tomatoes sometimes. Tomato puree once or twice. Thought about, but not tried, anchovies. It really is down to you.

The Process

First off, get a cast iron casserole with the oil heating on the hob on a medium to high heat. Tip in the chopped onion. Add salt as this does seem to help in the early stages of the cooking process. Stir for a few minutes until they begin to soften and turn down the heat to low. While the onions continue to sweat chop the peppers (pictured left) and then add them and stir them in.

While the peppers and onions sweat on a low heat chop the courgettes (pictured left) and repeat what you did with the peppers.

Chop and add the garlic and you'll end up with what you can see on the left. I know the casserole is a bit full but it didn't cause any problem. When I put it into the oven (later in the process) I just placed it on a tray to take up any spillages.

Once the basic chopped fresh vegetables are softening nicely tip in the tins of tomato and stir. Add in the herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and cornichons and stir. You could cook it for longer on the hob and use then. The result is what you can see in the picture to the left. I like to put it in the oven for about an hour at about 170-180. Season to taste.

After being in the oven for about an hour the sauce (see picture to the left) will have taken on a richness that makes it an excellent base to any meal. Now is the time to add the lemon juice and any fresh Basil you may have.






Have it as it is with pasta and maybe a few Parmesan shavings on it. We like it with sautéed spiralized courgettes.  Meatballs, good quality sausages or roast chicken all go well as does cheese. Fish or Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham and baked make a lovely accompaniment.

You could make it with things like meatballs or sausages in it. I rarely do in as it won't last as long. It does taste better on the day after it has been cooked too.

On occasion I have used a hand blender with some of it to make a smooth sauce. Add some Mascarpone and you have an entirely different sauce. The variations are almost endless.

It'll last two or three days if kept cool enough and I'd say is probably better on the second day.

The Format

Ok, you have the background.

A hungry old fart.

What will this blog entail? Food blogs are ten-a-penny.

Here is a an idea of what makes me tick.. Maybe it will give you an idea as to whether this is something that is worth following.

I've spent the last ten to fifteen years building up my experience and repertoire. I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. That initial spell with those fried sardines was not a fad.

My wife is a good judge. She is not a 'foodie'. It has to be something special to ignite anything near to passion when it comes to food for her. The perfect critic. She is also very honest. So if it's crap she'll tell me. Not good for the ego but brilliant if you want to improve. She is backed up by the rest of my family. She marks me out of ten for my creations. That does sound a bit hyper-critical. Far from it. I ask for that. I will only publish those she gives me a ten for.

For starters I'm not a chef. I don't even class myself as a gifted amateur. I am a 'Passionate Amateur'. I have, however, gained a little experience in the kitchen and I'll endeavour to pass on some of that. I like cooking. I like writing. Hopefully the two will meld into something of interest. The recipes I will list will start with a number of  'staples' that form much of what we eat.

As a younger man my stress and tension was about my career. I had a need to provide a good income for my family. Now that my family have grown up, my 'stress and tension' is generally confined to the kitchen. If I get a 'ten' I feel fulfilled. If I don't I go back to the drawing board and consider how I can improve.

I hope that gives an idea of my approach to cooking.

I care for what I do.

It started with sardines

I was born in the early fifties. An adolescent in the sixties. Married and started our family in the seventies.

I was not brought up to be familiar with the kitchen and the secrets it held.

However, I do love food, I love eating. As an adolescent I remember filling a cake mixing bowl with a whole packet of cornflakes, sloshing in a pint of milk and a couple of tablespoons of sugar. That was just for starters. I was always hungry. Never put weight on. That certainly lead to a false sense of security in my later life.

In my mid twenties I joined the Territorial Army. All the exercise that that entailed just increased my appetite. I was nicknamed; 'The Gannet'.

My future mother in law had to 'have words' with my wife to be when I came ' a courting'. They had never met anyone with my ability to consume the volumes that I did.

My stomach was a money pit.

By now you may have a picture of a young man with little idea of how to satisfy his prodigious appetite.

My wife is a wonderful cook. She has always been happy to spend time creating meals to fill my seemingly endless appetite. A challenging job. She still remembers the marathon eating sessions where I just never seemed to stop eating. I have no particular foibles when it comes to food but I did like volume when I was younger.

There was one issue; fish. She has never been a lover of fish. Hates the smell of raw fish and will not eat the skin even when crispy.

I love fish...................oh dear.

I remember enjoying some grilled sardines in an Italian Restaurant some years ago. I didn't feel comfortable asking my wife to repeat the experience so..................I'll try it myself.

Simple dish. Fried sardines. Still remember it. Three of them.

It was heaven...............and a release. I enjoyed the process. The kitchen was now a place to explore.