The Kalaf Family Red Sauce
(from my Aunt Katherine Kalaf Styler)
lots of red wine, for cooking & drinking
lots of roma tomatoes
lots of garlic
lots of parsley
lots of basil
lots of oregano
lots of onions
optional: mushrooms, sausage, bell peppers, meatballs, hot pepper flakes
This is the kind of recipe where the person making the sauce gets to decide what to put in. This type of sauce requires drinking wine during the process.
Garlic Bread
Every meal with red sauce needs bread. There is a great bread recipe in the Joy of Cooking that I have modified, by adding rosemary or Italian seasonings. Here is a delicious way to make a garlic swirled bread.
2 cups flour (bread flour is best, but all purpose will do)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 pkg (2 1/4 teaspoons) quick-rise or active dry yeast
1 tsp. sea salt
1 cup very warm (115°F to 125°F) water
2 Tbsp. butter, melted or softened
Inner Garlic Ingredients:
4 Tbsp. butter, melted/softened
1 Tbsp. garlic, minced
2 tsp. parsley
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
In a large bowl, mix the yeast, water, butter, sugar, salt, and rosemary together. Add 2 cups of flour. Continue to add 1/4 cup flour at a time until the dough is moist, but not sticky. It ends up being about 1-1.5 cups flour.
On a floured surface, knead for about 10 minutes by hand (or with the dough hook on low to medium speed) until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer the dough to an olive oiled bowl and turn it over to coat with olive oil. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place (75°F to 85°F) until doubled in bulk, 40 to 45 minutes. Grease a cookie sheet or grease a 9x5" loaf pan. Combine butter, garlic, parsley and oregano.
Punch down the dough. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a large rectangular no more than 9" wide. Spread garlic/butter mixture evenly over top of dough, leaving 1/2" at end to help seal loaf. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top of butter mixture. Tightly roll dough up into cylinder shape, pinching and tucking ends to form a tight seal and pinching seam to seal. Place seem side down into prepared pan. Oil the surface of the loaf and cover loosely with a clean cloth. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 20 to 45 minutes. (If desired you can top the loaf with Parmesan cheese or sea salt)
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Bake the loaf for 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350°F and bake about 25-30 minutes more. Bake until the crust is golden brown, or if the bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Remove the loaf from the pan to a rack and let cool completely.
Here is another red sauce that has more vegetables than most sauces. This style of sauce is chunky with veggies, has great flavor, and only takes about 30 minutes to cook! My friend JF provided me with this recipe.
Jean-François's Family Basil Tomato Sauce
(from JF's mom in Quebec)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 onions, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
6 Ibs. of tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced
½ cup chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp of fresh chives
½ tsp fresh rosemary
salt and pepper
sugar to taste
red wine, optional
In a large pan, heat oil. Add everything except garlic and tomatoes, and cook for 5 min on low heat. Stir in garlic and some red wine, cook 1 minute stirring constantly. Turn heat to medium. Add tomatoes, cook for 20 mins, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat, add the spices and sugar to taste. Pile on top of pasta and if needed, drizzle with any type of oil you like (olive oil, truffle oil, etc.)
Makes 3 cups.
