Simple TomatO Sauce

Welcome to What’s Cooking Wednesday AND my entry for the 2nd Annual O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month sponsored by Michelle of Bleeding Espresso and Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy.  Ovarian cancer is often referred to as a silent killer, because its symptoms are often vague and subtle.

Here is my recipe for simple tomatO sauce, but when I make it I really think of it as soul satisfying simple tomatO sauce.  It is garlicky and has a bite from the crushed red peppers. And the lycopene from the tomatoes is a wonderful antioxidant.  I really love Muir Glen tomato products but it is a personal preference – I have tried most organic canned tomato products on the market, and go back to Muir Glen because the tomatoes taste very rich to me.

The recipe is a hodge podge of different techniques I have read in recipe books.  I particularly like the caramelizing of the tomato paste with the garlic.  All the ingredients are ranges, because I like my flavors super-intense – if you do too, go with the upper end of the ranges.

   

Makes 2 cups

2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

3-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1-3 teaspoons of crushed red pepper

1-3 tablespoons of organic tomato paste (I love Muir Glen tomato paste because it is very rich Update December 2010 – now my favorite tomato paste is from Bionaturae)
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes (I love the Muir Glen Fire Roasted ones – I know, shocker.  I now much prefer non-canned tomatoes, such as Bionaturae’s)
1/2 cup chopped basil or parsley

Over low heat in a large heavy-bottomed pan, cook the garlic for 2 minutes, being careful not to burn it.  Then add the crushed red pepper, cook for another minute, and add the tomato paste.  Allow to caramelize – this can take as little as 5 minutes or as long as 10 minutes, plus your tolerance for letting the bottom of your pan get brown and crusty figures into it.  Deglaze the pan with the crushed tomatoes, adding a splash of water if necessary.  Simmer for at least 30 minutes, adding water if the sauce starts sticking.  Add herbs (I use basil in summer, or parsley otherwise) and turn off heat.  Then taste for salt. I find I do not need it because of the intensity of the garlic and crushed red peppers.  I particularly love this recipe with fusili.  Above, in the picture, I used Tinkyada gluten-free pasta and served the pasta alongside Karina’s Gluten-free focaccia – while I am only semi-temporarily following a gluten-free, dairy-free diet {eventually I will get tested for food allergies), I have to say that this meal is one where I really don’t miss wheat or dairy.  

Enough about me, please see below how to enter the contest for O Foods:

CONTEST RULES

O Foods Contest for Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and for the second year in a row, Sara of Ms Adventures in Italy and Michelle of Bleeding Espresso are hosting the O Foods Contest to raise awareness of this important health issue.

There are TWO WAYS to take part in the O Foods Contest:

ONE: Post a recipe to your blog using a food that starts or ends with the letter O (e.g., oatmeal, orange, okra, octopus, olive, onion, potato, tomato); include this entire text box in the post; and send your post url along with a photo (100 x 100) to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

PRIZES for recipe posts:

• 1st: Signed copy of Dolce Italiano: Desserts from the Babbo Kitchen by Gina DePalma, Executive Pastry Chef of Babbo Ristorante in NYC, who is currently battling ovarian cancer, inspired this event, and will be choosing her favorite recipe for this prize;

• 2nd: Signed copy of Molto Italiano: 327 Simple Italian Recipes to Cook at Home by Mario Batali (winner chosen by Sara);

• 3rd: Signed copy of Vino Italiano: The Regional Italian Wines of Italy by Joseph Bastianich (winner chosen by Michelle).

OR

TWO: If you’re not into the recipe thing, simply post this entire text box in a post on your blog to help spread the word and send your post url to ofoods[at]gmail[dot]com by 11:59 pm (Italy time) on Monday, September 28, 2009.

Awareness posts PRIZE:

• One winner chosen at random will receive a Teal Toes tote bag filled with ovarian cancer awareness goodies that you can spread around amongst your friends and family.

———

From the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund:

• Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic cancers in the United States and is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among U.S. women; a woman’s lifetime risk of ovarian cancer is 1 in 67.
• The symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose, but include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly; and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).
• There is no effective screening test for ovarian cancer but there are tests which can detect ovarian cancer when patients are at high risk or have early symptoms.
• In spite of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region.
• When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%.

And remember, you can also always donate to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund at our page through FirstGiving!

Please help spread the word about ovarian cancer.

Together we can make enough noise to kill this silent killer.