sungold tomato sauce
Ingredients:
1/3- 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
1 Yellow Onion
2 Teaspoons fresh Thyme
4 cloves of Garlic
5 Cups Sun gold Tomatoes
Splash (or 1 cap full) Red Wine Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 lb pasta of choice
Red Pepper flakes (optional for heat)
Fresh grated Parmesan or Mozzarella (optional)
Directions:
Fill a large pot of generously salted water. Turn the heat on to bring it to a boil.
Chop your Onion & Garlic (this does not have to be a fine chop, we will be throwing everything into the blender).
In a dutch oven or pot, add in your Olive Oil. Be liberal with it. Turn the heat on medium-low.
Once the Olive oil is hot, throw in your onions. (You can test the temperature by throwing one piece of onion in. If around the onion it bubbles and sizzles, you’re ready to throw them all in).
Salt the onions immediately and let them soften. You know they’re soft when they appear translucent.
As the onions are cooking, get your thyme ready. *Tip: If you’re using fresh thyme the easiest way to get it off is to hold on one end of the stem, and slide your fingers down in the opposite direction of the way it grows. The leaves will fall right off. Get ready to add them.
Once the onions have softened, add in your Thyme. This spice should make a popping sound. And your kitchen should smell so good now!
Add the Garlic to the pot. Do NOT look away as the garlic can burn VERY quickly! Cook the garlic for maybe 1 minute.
Add in your sun gold tomatoes. Stir well, and make sure the oil is coating all of the tomatoes. Let them cook down, stirring frequently. This takes around 20 minutes. Feel free to crank up the heat a bit.
If you’re using fresh pasta, you may want to wait on cooking it until step 12. Otherwise, feel free to start cooking your pasta. *Tip: Once the pasta is cooked, please save 1 cup of the starchy pasta water to add to the sauce if it needs to be thinned out.
Once the tomatoes are soft and and have turned into a mushy saucy deliciousness, add in the cap full (or a splash!) of red wine vinegar. This is the acid that takes your sauce to the next level. Let it cook off and through for about 2-5 minutes.
Remove the sauce from the heat.
Once the sauce has cooled off a bit, transfer to a blender, and blend until smooth. If you’re using a small bullet type blender, you’ll want to let the sauce cool a lot, as it will be hard to open and steam and sauce will splatter upon opening after blending. You’ll likely need to do this in batches. If you’re doing it in a larger blender, you don’t need to let it cool completely.
Once blended, transfer back into original pot, and turn the heat on medium.
If you’re planning to add cheese, do so now. I don’t have a specific measurement because this is a personal choice. You can make it as cheesy as you wish.
Add in your cooked pasta and stir. If the sauce is feeling thick, add a bit of the pasta water you saved to loosen it up. Feel free to add in more cheese if it looks like it could use it!
Garnish with some parmesan & red pepper flakes!
