Michael "Dog3" Lonergan wrote:
>
> I almost always use canned tomatoes for sauce but in a pinch I've used
> paste. I hate ketchup (yeah, I said it, so kill me). Okay, so what is
> tomato paste intended to be used in? In spaghetti sauce I usually use
> ground chuck along with chopped fresh 'shrooms, chopped garlic and
> onion and a variety of spices. I put in a few cans of tomatoes. I
> taste as I go so I can't tell you the amount of which spices I use. I
> have fresh oregano in the garden so I use it a lot. I throw in a bay
> leaf and some parsley along with a bit of a Penzey's mix of Italian
> stuff... oh and Kosher salt with some pepper. If I'm in the mood and
> have them on hand I'll dice some green pepper but that's not a given.
> Sometimes I like that green pepper taste but not that often.
>
> Michael

I use it as a thickener in tomato sauce and other dishes will use it for
color and taste also.

Here is my plain old tomato sauce that I make every other Sunday.
Measurement are a guess as I really don't measure this any more.

1 large onion (yellow)
1 large bell pepper (color of your choice)
olive oil (your brand as needed)
3-5 cloves of garlic (amount to be set by your own taste)
2 bay leaves
2 table spoons of dried oregano
2 table spoons of your favorite Italian seasoning blend
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup of chopped fresh parsley (Italian or broad leaf)
2 large cans of whole Roma tomatoes (crushed are fine also, brands are up to
you)
1 small can of tomato paste ( brand is up to you)
1 teaspoon of sugar
drinkable wine (red or white - enough to fill the small tomato paste can)
salt, black pepper, crushed red peppers to taste

Dice up the onions and bell pepper. Pick a pot to make the sauce in and get
it on medium heat. Once hot add a couple of table spoons of olive oil then
sauté the onions and bell pepper until soft (5 to 10 minutes). Now add your
crushed garlic and the can of tomato paste. Now add 1 tomato paste can of
wine and one can of water, then 1 teaspoon of sugar. Add your Roma tomatoes
crushing by hand or food processor. Allow this to come to a bubble and add
your fresh basil, parsley, bay leaves, Italian seasoning, and oregano. salt
and pepper to taste, you can also add crushed red peppers now if you like. I
then turn it down to a simmer and stir every 15 minutes or so. I let this
cook for about 3 hours.

Now if I want a meat sauce, I will brown the ground meat (sausage, beef,
pork) with the onions and green pepper. I don't like to brown my meat balls
with pasta so I will let them slow cook in the sauce. Italian sausage I
brown in another pan and then add them to the sauce to finish cooking. I
prefer my mushrooms sautéed so rarely add them but if you want just add them
before a couple of minutes before the onions and peppers are done. If the
sauce is too think you can add water, too thin don't cover and let it cook
down.

--

Joe Cilinceon