Giada's Basic Marinara

No, I don't have a personal relationship with Giada De Laurentiis from the Food Network. But I got two of her books at the library this week, I've tried two recipes, and been happy two times.

I've been frustrated with the lack of consistent success with my marinara sauce. (BTW Jim and Lisa, I really want both of your marinara recipes.) The main differences I see between her sauce and mine is that she uses a lot more olive oil, more onion, and bay leaves. I liked the sauce. The fam liked it, and it's freezable, easy to double, and doctor up into a ton of other sauces.

I don't know where our camera is right now, so no pictures.

Directions

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 small onions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes

2 dried bay leaves

In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)

I copied and pasted that from her website, so that's why there are all the links. I hope that's not a copyright infringement. It's all about GIADA people. It's not MINE.

Mason Redd's Tomato and Basil Pizza

I first had this pizza when I was 12. I was in Utah for my brother's wedding and his future wife's father made it in a homemade brick oven. It converted me to tomatoes.

A pizza margarita is far more common now than it was then. But just in case YOU don't know about it. I thought I'd share, and preserve a happy family memory.



Using your favorite pizza crust as a base (no recipe suggestion here. I just use my kitchen aid recipe. so quick. so easy. but so not useful if you don't have a kitchen aid) do the following:

1. Drizzle olive oil on the dough. Spread evenly with your hand.
2. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese.
3. Layer sliced tomatoes (use A LOT, I wish I had used more on the above). I usually use Roma's, but I had a few beefsteak and marglobes left over from my garden. You don't want a super watery tomato, so that's why the Roma's are nice.
4. Sprinkle salt (not too much) and parmesan cheese over the top.
5. Cut fresh basil in a chiffonade and spread generously over pizza. (again, wish I had used more)
6. Bake pizza at the temperature and time recommended by your crust recipe. We like a thin crust, so I usually bake at 400 for 20 minutes. But that's just my quirky oven. Don't count on it.



Mmm. The happy result. I serve this with Spring Mix tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar (which I recently learned how to reduce thanks Audrey which makes it thicker, sweeter, and syrup-ier.) and salt.