My CSA this week contained some of the most beautiful tomatoes I've ever seen. I've been adding them to
chana masala, slicing them and snacking on them with a sprinkle of salt, and making lots of
salsa. Why it didn't occur to me to get in touch with my inner Italian and make tomato sauce before yesterday, I have no idea. But I was glad that the wisdom of my Italian generations finally hit me over the head yesterday when Andrew was making risotto. I know, tomato sauce on risotto is pretty sacrilegious. Or, at least it seemed like it shouldn't be done. But, it was sinfully delicious.
Although tomatoes are lovely, they're pretty acidic. This is a good thing for most people, except for those who have heartburn. A bit of that feeling has been happening here, so to help with digestion I loaded this sauce up with fennel and anise seeds.
Fennel & Anise Saucy Tomato Sauce
- 5 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup water
- 5 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh oregano (loosely packed)
- 1/4 cup fresh basil (loosely packed)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons anise seeds
- 2 1/2 tablespoons fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon sugar (gasp!)
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1/4 cup red wine
- olive oil, to taste
Place your tomatoes, water, garlic, onion, and fresh herbs in a large sauce pan on medium heat. Cover and let secret magic Italian things happen for about 15 minutes. Carefully pour contents of pan into a blender. Add anise, fennel, sugar, wine, salt and olive oil as you blend away. Taste and adjust -- you might want more salt, sugar, oil, etc. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator -- will keep fresh for 5 days. Yields about 4 cups.
