We like our red sauce unctuous and thick and find more often than not that red sauces are runny and not powerful enough. Ours takes a day, two if you want, and has a few extra steps to make it really special.
WHAT YOU NEED
A heaping cup of sliced mushrooms. We use baby bellas because they are cost effective
24oz Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10-15 cloves of garlic
2 medium white onions - rough chopped in large pieces
Fresh Thyme
Fresh basil
3 28oz cans of peeled tomatoes
WHAT TO DO
First, you’re going to make mushroom oil. Put your mushrooms into an oven safe dish and cover them with all of the EVOO. Set your oven to 200 and cook this for 2 hours.
Take it out of the oven and remove the mushrooms from the oil. You can eat them as they are, or put them in something else. If you REALLY like mushrooms, you can include them in your sauce. We found the texture and taste to be too overwhelming, but we’re not going to tell you not to if you’re into that.
Next, in an oven safe dish, you’re going to build your sauce and roast it. We like a casserole dish for this. It works perfectly.
Put your garlic, onions, thyme and basil on the bottom of the dish. Drain your canned tomatoes and layer them neatly next. Then, pour your mushroom oil over all of it. You should have enough to at least get halfway up over the tomatoes. It’s okay if they’re sticking out a little.
Roast this pan at 425 for 30 minutes. The oil will be very hot and bubbly and dangerous when you take this out of the oven so BE CAREFUL. Let it cool for another 30 minutes. It is both still cooking and becoming easier and safer to work with.
Remove most of the oil and the thyme stems and transfer to a pot on the stove. We find scooping it out with a slotted spoon is easier than trying to pour it off, but to each their own. We like a dutch oven for this next part, but any pot with a lid you have will work.
Go hard on the whole mixture with an immersion blender. We do this right in the pot to avoid an extra dish and an extra step, but if you’re using a non-stick or something that will be damaged by the stick blender, do this in a different vessel. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can do this step in a regular blender in batches, but you may end up with something on the thinner side.
Once the sauce is blended to your liking, bring it to a simmer, cover and leave it on low for two hours. Check in on it and season to your liking. We go with dried oregano, dried basil and salt and pepper.
If your sauce is looking a little thin, simmer for a while with the lid off stirring occasionally. If you find our sauce is too thick for you, you can add a little water to thin it out. We typically use broth instead so that the flavor only elevates.
A few hours on the stove will get you there, but we like to let it cool, put it in the fridge over night, and then get her back on the stove in the morning for a few more hours. Spread it on pizza, put it on pasta, dunk bread right into it or just eat it with a spoon cause it is too good!
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