In-House Cook: Semi-Homemade Pasta Sauce with Fresh Herbs and Fettuccine

Meatless Semi-Homemade Pasta Sauce with Fettuccine

It is not often that I really want a meatless meal, let along a meatless pasta sauce. I have made roasted red pepper sauces, brown butter sauces, sauceless pasta (with all fresh veg) and more. We all know how much I love a hefty bolognese. But last weekend, Labor Day weekend, I really needed something clean and light. I decided to make my go-to semi-homemade tomato based pasta sauce.

My basic sauce uses canned San Marzano or Plum tomatoes. You could also make it with tomato puree, but I wanted to use actual steam peeled whole tomatoes I could manipulate. I could make them from scratch, using plum tomatoes, but as I said, this was semi-homemade. I used fresh onion, fresh garlic, made my own Italian seasoning, and used fresh herbs (as well as dried, for a last flavor charge).

This sauce can be served chunky or processes smooth.

I chose chunky. I like pasta sauces chunky, though for the sake of elegance, I have also processed some smooth.

Let's get to this simple, flavorful pasta sauce, shall we?

Ingredients

2 28-ounce cans San Marzano or Plum Tomatoes

1 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, grated or finely chopped

1 teaspoon fresh, chopped oregano

1 teaspoon fresh, chopped thyme

1 teaspoon fresh, chopped rosemary

1 teaspoon fresh basil, chiffonade cut

1 tablespoon dried Italian herbal seasoning

salt and pepper + salt for the pasta water

1 tablespoon of my Italian spice mix*

My Italian Spice Blend

3 tablespoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves

1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves

1/2 teaspoon sage powder

Place the spices in a spice grinder and process. Place in a covered container in a dark, cool location in the kitchen (not the refrigerator). Will keep up to six weeks.

My Italian Spice Blend.

Dried Italian seasoning.

From here, the easy part begins! In a pot drizzled with three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat, add the onion and a pinch of salt. The salt helps the onion "sweat", releasing its sugars. After sauteeing the onions for about three minutes, add the garlic. Saute another three minutes, until the onion begins to become translucent. Add the two cans of San Marzano peeled tomatoes. Stir for a few minutes in order to soften the tomatoes further.

Add two tablespoons of my spice blend and one tablespoon of the dry Italian seasoning and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium. Use a potato masher or large fork to smash the now softened tomatoes. Fold the seasonings into the mixture. *I also added a little grated Turmeric for its fortifying substances. That is just what I like. I would not expect everyone to understand and want to do that.

Bring about four quarts of water to a roiling boil, liberally salt, and boil spaghetti or fettuccine or Your favorite pasta until al dente (just about done). Strain the pasta. Now........

After all of the folding and mashing and stirring, add the fresh herbs and let them sit on top and simmer for thirty minutes, if you have time. An hour would be ideal but not necessary. After reducing, this is what your shiny, aromatic, flavorful sauce will look like. Serve however you wish, tossing the pasta with the sauce or place the sauce over the pasta. I chose to serve it sauce on the pasta, as that is how my mom like it.