It's time for a monumental post...something not about Abby. Crazy I know.
I really love reading step-by-step recipes on websites like
The Pioneer Woman Cooks and
Smitten Kitchen. There's something infinitely better about seeing the whole process photo-by-mouthwatering-photo than just a printed recipe. So here's my first step-by-step: fresh spaghetti sauce from scratch. This is what I'd call an extra-mile meal, not an every day meal. Not because it is incredibly difficult but because it takes time. I certainly don't make this sauce from scratch every time we eat spaghetti but it is a great break from the canned variety when I have some extra time and some extra tomatoes which we have in abundance right now.
This recipe is a loose guideline and I've made it with different variations, it also freezes well. The original recipe comes from Ryan's Italian side of the family, but I think I have butchered/altered the original (depending on your perspective) enough to call it my own.
Here's what you need:
About 5 lbs tomatoes, 10 cloves of garlic, olive oil, a Vidalia onion, fresh parsley, fresh basil, dried oregano, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, sugar, and red burgundy wine.
First you need to get the skin off of the tomatoes, so start by salting some water and get it boiling. Just eyeball the salt, maybe a tablespoon or two. You'll want the water to be about an inch deeper than your tomatoes.
Next, cut an X at the bottom of each tomato.
When that's done, cut out the stems.
After your tomatoes are ready, use tongs to drop them by batches into the boiling salt water bath.
After 30 seconds to a minute, the skins will start breaking open. When you see this happen, use your tongs to take the tomatoes out.
Run some cold water over them and they'll burst even more.
Once they're cool enough to touch, pick them up one at a time and peel the skin off. It's kind of fun. It should come off really easily. If you're having a hard time getting the skin off, pop the tomato back in the water for another 30 seconds or so. When you've got all the skin off, dump out the water, you'll use the stockpot again later.
The next part is kind of fun too. Once all of the tomatoes have their skin removed, pick up a tomato and point the top where the stem has been removed down towards the sink. Give the tomato a little squeeze. Some juices and seeds should come out as pictured at the bottom of my sink. You don't have to go all Hulk Hogan on it or you'll obliterate the poor thing. You don't need to get out every last seed. Don't be surprised if the seeds decided to bust out of the of your hand, volcanic style, causing you to scream like a little girl. Be cool.
After you've squeezed all your tomatoes, give them a rough chop. I don't really worry about the size because I like to use an immersion blender on the sauce at the end. If you don't like it chunky and you don't plan on blending it you might want to dice yours a litter finer than me.
Salt your tomatoes and set them aside. I didn't measure here either, maybe another tablespoon or so.
Next, if you have one, get out your handy dandy garlic peeler. If you don't have one, go get one, they are so awesome! If you do have one, thank your kitchen-gadget-happy mom for getting you one! But seriously, it is wonderful and can't cost more than a few bucks. All you do is stick a clove of garlic in the opening,
put your hand on top and roll back and forth a few times,
...and voila! You garlic skin is removed!
Once you've got your garlic peeled, chop it up. Don't be scared. Ten is a lot but it tastes good. The original recipe called for like 20-25 cloves. You can handle ten.
Take your Vidalia onion and chop it in half. You can use a different kind of onion but I like my sauce sweet.
I learned how to cut an onion from
The Pioneer Woman. You probably already know this trick but just in case you don't, take one half and cut slits in it almost all the way to the end, but not quite. You want the half to stay together. This picture might look backwards to you and you'll probably hold everything the opposite way but I am a lefty. Lefties do it right! Or at least that's what a pencil I used to have in elementary school reassured me.
Next, turn the onion 1/4 turn and cut the opposite way and you'll have a perfect dice.
Once you've got your onion and garlic cut up, throw them in the pot with about 1/4 cup of olive oil and saute on high heat until soft and the garlic is beginning to brown. Sorry for the horrible lighting.
Now it's time to add the rest of the ingredients. Remember these guys?
After you dump in the tomatoes, add in your spices. I used 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 tsp oregano, 1 cup fresh cut parsley and 1/3 cup fresh cut basil. If you don't have fresh herbs, don't sweat it. Dried work well too, and I'd use about 1/4 cup dried parsley and 4 tsp dried basil.
Mix that up and then add the remaining ingredients: 1 tbsp sugar, 1/3 cup red burgundy wine, and 1/3 cup olive oil. We don't drink or keep alcohol in our house so I use red cooking wine available in any grocery store.
Mix it all up and let it simmer for at least two hours. The longer the better. The original recipe calls for 5-6 hours but I usually don't have that much time. Stir every 30-45 minutes. Monitor the thickness. If you like the way it is, keep the lid on. If you want it to thicken up, simmer with the lid off. I usually leave the lid off for most of the time.
If you don't like chunky sauce like my hubby, use an immersion blender to even out the consistency. If you don't have one you could puree a batch or two in the blender and pour it back into the pot.
Pour over spaghetti noodles (we love angel hair), garnish with Parmesan cheese and basil, and serve. Mmm...
As I mentioned before, this recipe is flexible. You can use canned tomatoes and dried herbs if you don't have fresh ones. You can add tomato paste to thicken the sauce. You can also add other garden vegetables like peppers and mushrooms, however I tried to add a red bell pepper one time and it tasted funky so I don't recommend that. The original recipe called for a bottle of clam juice which I left out this time because you don't really miss the flavor and it cuts down on the cost.
Here's a
printable version of the recipe. Enjoy!
Start by cutting the stem out of the tomatoes.
Dice them up.
I know this is too many pictures of the tomatoes but don't they look delicious? Once they're all cut up, set them aside.
Next, cut the corn off the cob. Don't be surprised when the kernels jump all over your counter. I like to keep my little shark vacuum close by to clean up the silk and the dropped kernels after I cut corn off the cob so the hubby doesn't have a heart attack at the mess on the floor. If you know Ryan you are probably nodding your head knowingly while you read this. Once it's all cut up, set it aside.
Next, cut up 1 cup of Vidalia onion, I used one half.
Then slice up enough basil to fill up 1/3 cup. Take a good long sniff. Ahhh.
You should have this all ready once you're done chopping.
Once you have everything chopped up, pour a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a pan and then dump in the onions. Cook them until tender, about 5 minutes.
After that, add the corn and cook it for another 8 minutes, stirring regularly.
Once the onions and corn are cooked, dump in the tomatoes and basil.
Next you're going to add the good stuff.
Once you've mixed in the tomatoes and basil, pour in1 tbsp lime juice.
Next add 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper, and 1/8 tsp black pepper, and 1/4 tsp salt (not pictured. I think you get the idea). 
If you're serving this to kids you might want to scale back the red pepper because it does have a bit of a kick. At least to my wimpy tastebuds.
Enjoy!
You can find a printable version of the recipe here.
