I always try to eat delicious food. Unfortunately I don't have that much money, so I have to cook a lot of it at home. But thats OK because I love cooking and I love eating at home with my wife. This is a website with my favorite recipes and a little bit of commentary.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Layover in Italy

In our culinary trip to the middle east I have to make a couple day layover in Italy. I am going to be short of time until the weekend. So tonight I am making homemade marinara from fresh roma tomatoes. Trust me it isn't hard. I am not above using a Paul Newman product now and again but tonight I felt like fresh sauce. I usually make the marinara separate from the meat and then combine the 2 and cook only for a few minutes. You can use whatever meat you like but I am using Italian sausages tonight.

Koko's Fresh Marinara

1 pound roma tomatoes
2 T olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 carrot, grated
2 t Italian seasoning of choice
2 t salt
fresh ground black pepper to taste
dash of cayenne pepper

Prepare the tomatoes by dropping them in boiling water and then into cold water. Peel them and set aside. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and saute onions, carrots, and garlic until tender. Add tomatoes, cover and cook a few minutes. Use a potato masher to crush up the tomatoes. Cook a little longer (15 to 30 minutes) but not too long. You want the marinara to taste fresh but not green.

We are also having some sourdough buns that I am making up tonight.