By Amy Bradley-Hole of Freaky Perfect

I have been blessed to spend a lot of time in Italy’s Tuscany region.  I’m also lucky in that many of my friends over there are either professional chefs or amazing home cooks.  From them, I learned much about Tuscan cuisine, the importance of using local ingredients, how the most simple dishes are often the best, and Italian regional cooking in general.

One of these simple-yet flavorful recipes that is a staple in my home is Tuscan garlic sauce.  It uses only five ingredients, yet when those ingredients are high quality, the taste is magical.  The recipe calls for canned tomatoes, but I use San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy.  It calls for lots of olive oil, but I use the finest Tuscan olive oil, not an Italian/Greek/Tunisian/Egyptian blend, like what you find in most “Italian” olive oil sold in the grocery stores.  Use the best ingredients you can find when making this sauce.

And like the best Italian dishes, this sauce is quite easy to make.  Don’t overthink it.  Just combine the ingredients, let it simmer, and it will turn our great!  Make large batches and you can easily can or freeze it for later use.

Speaking of use – you can do so much with this versatile sauce.  Serve it simply with pasta.  Spoon it over crostini for a take on bruschetta.  Use it as a base for your favorite pizza.  Even use it as a starter for a flavorful vegetable soup.  My kids love it when I simmer meatballs in in.  Use it as you would any other tomato-based sauce.  There are many possibilities.

To make Tuscan Garlic Sauce, you will need:

• one head of garlic (yes, the whole thing)
• 6 ounces of olive oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon crushed red chili pepper flakes
• 3 ounces tomato paste
• 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 Tablespoon salt

Peel the garlic, then chop or mince it.  I actually put mine in the food processor.  It’s much easier than chopping it all, and I prefer the smoother blend.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Once it’s heated, turn the temperature down to low and add the garlic and pepper flakes.  Stir well and simmer until the garlic begins to turn brown.

Add the tomato paste.  Again, stir it in well and simmer until the paste breaks up.

Add the can of crushed tomatoes.  Stir well to incorporate all the ingredients.  Simmer for about 15 minutes, then add the salt and stir.  Let it continue to simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s at least heated through.  The longer it simmers, the better it tastes, in my  opinion.  The finished product will look like this:

Again, I encourage you to experiment with uses for this sauce.  If you’re like me, you’ll probably soon become addicted it it, and you’ll want to find a way to serve it a few times a week.

 

 

Amy Bradley-Hole is a freelance writer and speaker who covers tech, travel, business and parenting.  She’s a true Southern girl, but she’s lived and traveled all over the world.  She blogs at Freaky Perfect about the freakiness of her not-so-perfect life.  When she’s not goofing around on the internet, she dreams up new ways to drive her husband and two young boys crazy.  Follow her on Twitter at @amybhole.