Via The Week
Everyone knows that I cook. I used to teach cooking. I've worked in restaurants on and off since (muffle, muffle) and I'm always asked the same thing. What's your favorite thing to cook?.It seems simple enough but it's not really a fair question because my favorite thing to cook is always what I'm cooking right now. Which might just mean what's running through my head as I think about the next meal that I'll make. But if I'm nailed down and have to say just one thing, it's always my red sauce. And that sounds so simple. Just some tomatoes and probably some kind of meat and definitely onions and probably garlic and then.... Then is when it gets complicated. There are countless directions I can go. I like to hide extra veggies in everything. If I chop zucchini extra fine it will disappear into the sauce. Other people prefer their sauce less acid and more sweet than I do but I'm not about to add sugar but chunks of carrots or parsnips work fine. Do I want a nice dark edge? Fennel is fantastic for that. Not so much? Then I'll add spinach along with the basil at the end. All it needs to do is wilt.
My best secret? Heat a little olive oil. When it's hot, add a few anchovy filets. Break them up as they sizzle. Soon you won't see them at all. Put that in your sauce and you get all of the umami and none of those hairy clumps.
Maggie Hennesy over at The Week knows exactly what I'm talking about. Like any good sauce, red sauce is just a base and where you go with it is up to you.
Maggie's article and her recipe (not mine) can be found here. [The Week]
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