Perfecting the Art: Making Tomato Sauce like an Italian, A Dozen Years Later.

Posted on March 27 by Jennifer Avventura

One of the most enduringly popular posts on this blog was written twelve years ago and remains its top-performing piece. Even today, it attracts thousands of daily visitors from around the world seeking advice on perfecting their Italian tomato sauce.

I recently revisited this old post to reflect on how my sauce-preparing methods have evolved over the past twelve years. While some aspects have remained consistent, others have changed, driven by the necessity for greater time efficiency and my continual learning of new Italian methods along the way.

Let’s dive in—here’s how to craft tomato sauce like a true Italian, twelve years later and with a bit more wisdom under my belt, and no flashy photos, just the recipe. As I did twelve years ago, I still prefer not to measure my ingredients precisely; instead, I eyeball them and hope for the best.

Step 1: Gather the following ingredients: fresh or whole peeled Roma tomatoes, 1 large carrot, 2 stalks of celery, one medium-sized onion, garlic (to taste), dry or fresh oregano, parsley, fresh basil, tomato paste, and salt.

Step 2: Clean and chop all ingredients, leaving the garlic whole to add at the end.

Step 3: Heat oil in a medium or large saucepan. Test the oil temperature by adding a small piece of onion; when it begins to bubble, add the remaining chopped onion, carrots, celery, and oregano. Let the mixture cook down over medium heat until the onions become slightly transparent.

Step 4: Incorporate fresh or canned Roma tomatoes. I personally opt for Roma tomatoes due to their resilient texture when cooked down, but choose whichever variety that works best with your taste preferences. Mix in tomato paste, followed by parsley, basil, and salt to taste. Add whole peeled garlic clove(s), stir well, and maintain on a low to medium heat setting.

Step 5: Simmer the sauce until the garlic becomes soft, about thirty minutes. In the past, I would let it simmer for 2 – 3 hours, but I now believe that’s too lengthy for today’s fast-paced lifestyle.

Step 6: Optional, use an immersion blender to gradually blend the sauce until no vegetable chunks remain. I lean towards a smoother sauce now as it’s more versatile for various Italian recipes. Blend to achieve your desired consistency.

Step 7: Serve and enjoy.

Did I overlook any key steps or ingredients? If you noticed any omissions or have additional suggestions, please share them in the comment section below. Your input is valued!

I’m not Italian, nor do I pretend to be one online or in real life. However, I married an Italian, and to my delight, he adores my sauce even more today than he did twelve years ago.

Explore the original post by clicking here.

How to make mouth-watering meatballs from the mountains of Sardinia

Posted on November 30 by Jennifer Avventura

Sardinia is a culinary delight and nothing would please me more than to cook like the grandmothers who have baked and cooked for generations. The times I go walkabout, and it’s generally in the winter, the wafts of delightful delicacies that breeze through the crisp Mediterranean air leaves my mouth-watering and my stomach wanting the recipe.

My Italian language skills are decent enough to ask the women in the shops “Come fa le polpette?” They are more than eager to share the recipe from their grandmother’s kitchen, and I’ve taken their advice into my home and made it my own.

I’ve experimented with my meatballs and have come up with three different methods of cooking: bake, fry or add raw to tomato sauce. I’ve slowly improved and continue to ask the women in town for their advice. It’s a warm fuzzy friendship.

If you’ve followed this blog long enough, you will know that I don’t measure the ingredients, I eye-ball everything, plus, the leftovers always taste better the next day.

How to make mouth-watering meatballs

Ingredients:

400 grams ground beef (this makes about 4 meals for 2 adults in my home)
bread crumbs
1 egg
parsley
salt & pepper
The above ingredients are for your basic meatball, now let’s spice it up a bit.
finely chopped garlic, carrot, onion or zucchini
Adding too many ingredients takes away the intended flavour – keep it simple.

How to make meatballs in the oven:

Throw all ingredients together in a bowl and mix.
Use a tablespoon as measurement; ball together the beef mixture into the palm of your hand until round and slightly firm.
Roll meatball in bread crumbs and set in oven pan.
Set oven at 200.
Bake 25 minutes for medium size meatballs.
This is one of the healthiest options, I’ve made them in the oven several times and they were good, but dry.

How to fry meatballs:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.
Use a tablespoon as measurement and ball mixture until round and slightly firm.
Roll meatball in bread crumbs and set aside.
Fill frying pan with desired oil and cook until golden brown; heat oil.
If you have tomato sauce you can add the meatballs now. Oh, and here, in the mountains of Sardinia we don’t pare meatballs with pasta, no, never, it’s not even talked about, trust me, I’ve tried.
Not so healthy this option but super delicious, as with all things fried.

How to make meatballs in tomato sauce:

Okay, we get the gist of making meatballs now, right?
Make your meatballs and add it your boiling tomato sauce.
Cook for 35-40 minutes, stir slowly on medium heat.
Want to know how to make tomato sauce like an Italian? That’s the link to my most popular post, be sure to read the comment section for more tips for a great tomato sauce.

I used to think it was gross to add raw meat to cooking tomato sauce, then one day a friend was over and we were chatting meatballs. He asked me how I made mine and I told him I fried them, then put them in tomato sauce. He looked at me quizzically and said “perche non metti direttamente nel sugo?” It was a good question and the following day I just did just that, and the meatballs turned out superb, I’ve made them like this ever since.

Happy Meatball making.

How do you make your meatballs? Share your recipe in the comment section below.

Meatballs on a Stick (posimagine.wordpress.com)
Off To Mama’s Meatballs (aakatzeff.wordpress.com)

Carrot and Ginger Soup

Posted on September 17 by Jennifer Avventura

I woke this morning to crisp cool air and instantly had a hankering for Carrot & Ginger soup. I don’t know what brought on this desire, as I’ve never eaten carrot & ginger soup. I went about my ways and searched the web for recipes and I found this super easy recipe – to which I changed a little and added a few of my own ingredients.

How to make Carrot & Ginger Soup

Continue reading →

From the Sardinian recipe box: Gigantic Zucchini … Bread

Posted on June 27 by Jennifer Avventura

A friend who lives 3km down the curvy mountain road cultivates her own vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes, every herb known to man and gigantic zucchini. Each and every year her surplus is big and beautiful and this year I’m able to taste the fruits of her labor.

For the first time in recorded history … I’ve made Zucchini Bread. Many moons ago, my sister went on a zucchini bread making binge which lasted months, she gave zucchini bread away as gifts for birthdays, Christmas and weddings! At the time she was new to gardening and wasn’t aware of the growth potential in zucchini, hence, her gigantic garden of zucchini and the hundreds of loaves that followed. I’ve been a zucchini bread lover since. Here’s the recipe I scoffed off the internet for which, the author is a gigantic zucchini lover too. Continue reading →

From the Sardinian recipe box: Tortino di patate ~ Potato Pie

Posted on June 18 by Jennifer Avventura

Think of it as a potato lasagna but without the tomato sauce and you’ve got yourself an easy winner for lunch or dinner any day of the week.

I first posted this photo on my Facebook page and it got a lot of comments for the recipe, so I decided to share the recipe and the little story of how it came to be. I hope you enjoy.

Tortino di patate ~ Potato Pie

Monday morning – it’s market day and I have no idea Continue reading →

How do you eat your artichoke?

Posted on December 15 by Jennifer Avventura

Spinoso Sardo

The artichoke farmer stopped by the house one rainy afternoon and with him he carried freshly picked artichokes. Four spinoso Sardo artichokes and four globe artichokes.

Artichokes are my favourite winter vegetable and in Sardinia they grow in abundance. My favourite way to eat an artichoke is in risotto. Husband eats the artichoke stem, raw.

I’ve baked, steamed, and fried artichokes. They are wonderfully delicious to eat any way you like.

Love artichokes? Are you looking for a new and easy recipe? Click the following link. There’s even a few pictures of the artichoke farm, plus a super easy recipe.

Eating Made Easy | Oven Baked artichokes & Potato