Cristina Ferrare has more than just a few tips and tricks up her sleeves. One of her favorite tips is to use your leftovers!
Her Grandmother never threw anything away and taught Cristina to use her leftovers. For example, she makes tomato sauce and uses it for pasta sauce or soup.
This gives you two different meals. You have soup, which you can eat hot or cold, and you have a delicious pasta sauce. You can also use it in lasagna or any other pasta dish.
Cristina’s Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 16 (approx. 2 ¼ lbs) Roma (Italian plum) tomatoes
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 8 scallions, chopped
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¾ teaspoon unsalted butter
- 8 medium to large fresh basil leaves, chiffonade (rolled like a cigarette and sliced thin)
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation
- Cut tomatoes in quarters, and set aside in a bowl.
- Heat a large saucepan on medium-heat until hot. Add the olive oil and scallions, and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and continue to cook, reducing by more than half. Add the tomatoes and salt, and cook for 40 minutes at a slow, bubbly simmer. Remove from heat.
- In a food processor, puree the tomato mixture in batches, processing each batch for about 1 minute.
- Over saucepan, strain the tomatoes through a chinoise or Chinese cap. Do not use a strainer with tightly woven small mesh; the holes are too small and the resulting puree will be too liquid.
- Add butter and taste to see if the sauce needs more salt.
- Sprinkle with plenty of Parmesan cheese and basil.
