Squisito Red Sauces

Many families have their own special red sauce recipe. Some recipes take all day long to cook and some only 20 minutes. Herbs, wine, and other various ingredients are blended and simmered until the cook finally finds the taste they are looking for. Here are a few family recipes that I found squisito!

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.

Shrimp is the fruit of the sea

...."Anyway, like I was sayin', shrimp is the fruit of the sea. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. Dey's uh, shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich. That- that's about it."

Bubba never mentioned Shrimp Scampi during his long hearty discussion of shrimp plates with Forrest Gump. However, to make up for it, they offer it on their menu at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. & Market. I have not been to this restaurant to try Forrest's Favorites. However, I do have my own version of Shrimp Scampi that I would like to share with you.

My secret: low heat is key! The flavors need to mesh. Also, raw peeled and deveined shrimp is now just as cheap as the non. Why spend so much time peeling the shell and deveining if the price is the same? Check out the prices for both to save yourself some trouble.

This dish is great on a warm summer night with an avocado & tomato salad, bread, and a chilled buttery white chardonnay!


Shrimp Scampi
(serves 2)
Pair with a buttery Chardonnay

3/4 lb. medium shrimp, raw/peeled & deveined
1 lemon
garlic
parsley, fresh
olive oil
butter
fresh parmigiana cheese
pasta (linguine, angel hair, thin spaghetti, etc.)

- Count out enough shrimp for each quest. After peeling/deveining the shrimp, put into a bowl and mix with a little wine and chopped garlic to marinade for a bit.
- Chop more garlic and a handful of parsley into small bits (if you own a chopper, put the 2 in together).
- Start boiling the water for the pasta. Add olive oil and some salt to the water. When water comes to a boil, add pasta (the box usually will say how wide in diameter the servings are, e.g. 3/4" in diameter per person for thin spaghetti).
- On low, heat 8" skillet (cast iron pans work the best) with 1/2 inch deep olive oil in pan, add 2 Tbsp of butter.
- Add to the skillet 1/4 cup white wine, squeeze in 1/2 a lemon, add the parsley and garlic, and salt/pepper to taste. Simmer on low, occasionally stirring to mix flavors.
- Add flavors when needed. Taste it! If it's too lemony, add some more wine or olive oil. If you think its lacking something, add a little more. You need just the right amount of liquid so the pasta won't me too dry. It took me 2 times to make this recipe before I had the flavors perfect.
- When pasta is nearly finished cooking, add the raw shrimp to skillet. While keeping the temperature on low, the shrimp should take about 5-7 minutes to cook. The edges of the shrimp will start to curl up. They will be white/pink and no longer translucent/gray looking.
- Serve the shrimp and sauce over the pasta, with parsley sprigs to garnish.


Here is a simple Shrimp appetizer that pairs well with a nice golden Viognier.

Shrimp Cocktail

Large shrimp, cooked/peeled/deveined
Cocktail sauce
Bowls or fancy dishes

Pour cocktail sauce into a bowl for each guest. Thaw the shrimp and then hang each shrimp on the edge of the bowl. Garnish with parsley if desired.

The attack of the Blight

For all of you gardeners back home in NY, my condolences. Your tomatoes' lives have been cut short. Late Blight, a highly contagious fungus, has become widespread in the Northeast.

If you have an abundance of green tomatoes, there are several yummy ways you can cook them. Fried Green Tomatoes is a popular side dish.

The NY Times has a decent recipe, and one of my favorite cooking blogs has one as well. However, I like my breading on the green tomatoes more crispy and similar to tempura. This can be achieved with a few simply ingredients.

Fried Green Tomatoes
(as Tempura)

Slice the green tomatoes very thin (1/4" or less). Cut up any other ingredients you desire as well. You could use zucchini, yellow squash, green peppers, sweet potatoes, broccoli, shrimp, chicken, etc. Remember, whatever pieces of food you use, the oil level in the pan needs to be high enough to cover at least 3/4 of the piece so when you flip it, it cooks on all sides. Also, the pieces are only cooking for about 3-5 minutes. Slice them thin enough so they won't be soggy and uncooked inside the crisp layer.

Tempura Batter
1 egg beaten
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup cold water (40°F)
2 Tbsp dry white wine (optional)
1 cup flour, sifted

Mix flour and baking powder together in a small bowl. Mix the egg, water, and wine together in a large bowl. Make sure to use ice cold water to prevent sticky batter. Sticky batter makes the food oily. Dump flour and baking powder into a sifter. Whisk quickly the sifted flour/baking powder into the liquid. Do not over mix the batter. The batter should be on the thicker side; when you take a spoonful and hold it up high, it should drip thickly down into bowl. You can add spices here if you'd like (pepper, salt, garlic salt or garlic powder, lemon pepper, etc). Chill this batter for 15-20 minutes.

Canola oil works best when frying food. It has a neutral flavor. Using cast irons pans or woks work well for this. Make a layer of oil in pan at least 3/4 the height of your food you wish to fry. Heat to 375°F or put the end of a wooden spoon in the oil and if the oil bubbles up around it, the oil is ready. Fry 3-5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove with tongs. Drain on paper towels or paper bags. I keep the oven on 220°F or so with a cookie sheet. After I cook a batch, I put them on paper towels for a bit and then transfer to the oven to stay warm until served. Do not cover to keep warm or the condensation will make them soggy.


Traditional salsa verde calls for tomatillos, which can be hard to find unless you have a good farmer's market nearby. You can substitute tomatillos with green tomatoes and lemon juice.

Salsa Verde

3 medium green tomatoes, diced
1/2 of a lemon, squeezed
2 jalapeno peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 of a lime (juice and zest)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything in a food processor and blend. Taste, add more lemon or lime juice if necessary.

Another simple way to use green tomatoes is for pasta sauce. Marlena De Blasi mentions in her book that crushed green tomatoes over pici is most delicious. Pici, thick hand-rolled ropes of pasta, is great when made at home, but any pasta can be used with this sauce. This sauce can be served Cold or Warm.

Crushed Green Tomato Sauce

Cold Version
Crush the raw green tomatoes in a bowl with a potato masher or other kitchen tool. Add minced garlic, olive oil, and fresh basil. Serve over room temperature pasta.

Warm Version
Cut the green tomatoes into quarters. In a medium sauce pan, heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil on medium. Add the green tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Crush tomatoes in pan with a potato masher or other kitchen tool. Add more olive oil, minced garlic, and fresh basil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve over warm pasta.



Here is another great recipe using green tomatoes and zucchini. It calls for breadcrumbs and I found that the homemade bread crumbs taste the best. Here is a quick way to make homemade bread crumbs.

Homemade Breadcrumbs
Take any 4 slices of bread that you'd like (stale bread works best, but not necessary). Tear into quarters and put into a food processor (do this in phases if food processor is small). Pulse for 15 intervals until the bread has an even, course mixture.

This Greek side dish has a hint of a lemon that will be great to soak up with a crusty bread. It would be a great side for a chicken dish, kibbe, or burgers.














Green Tomatoes & Zucchini
(Serves 4-5)

olive oil
1 medium red onion, halved & sliced into 1/4"
1/2 tsp salt, sea salt is best if you have it
1/2 tsp pepper, freshly ground is best
1 tsp sugar
4 tsp minced garlic

1/2 cup dry white wine
2 Tbsp oregano, fresh & chopped is best
1 tsp lemon juice
3 medium green tomatoes, cored and cut crosswise into 1/4" slices
3-4 medium zucchini, cut diagonally into 1/4" slices
1 cup feta cheese, however much you desire
2 cups bread crumbs, homemade is best
Pine nuts (optional)

Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray the sides and bottom of a 1 1/2-quart gratin pan or an 8-by-10-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium skillet, over medium-high heat, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil shimmers, add the onion, salt and sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions soften, about 5 to 7 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until they turn golden brown and caramelize, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Add 3 teaspoons minced garlic to the onions and cook for about 1 minute, watch closely to not burn the garlic. Add the white wine. Turn the heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is absorbed, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of oregano, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of minced garlic. Add the sliced tomatoes, zucchini and salt and black pepper and toss to coat.

In the gratin or baking dish, arrange the first row of zucchini, by standing them up and then tipping them at a 45-degree angle against the side of the pan, slightly overlapping the edges. Next, arrange a single layer of tomatoes next to the zucchini in a shingle pattern. Repeat, alternating rows of vegetables until all are used. Then evenly distribute the onion mixture over the vegetables. Bake until tender about 40 to 45 minutes. Meanwhile, if you like pine nuts, you can toast them in a skillet and add them after the tomatoes have been cooking for 20 minutes. There has been some suggestion as to the quality of the pine nuts that should be used.

Remove the gratin from the oven. Raise the oven temperature to 450°F. Evenly sprinkle the feta cheese over the gratin. Mix the bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and spread in an even layer over the top. Bake until the top is golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the top with 1 tablespoon chopped oregano. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve.