Family Recipe for Sicilian Tomato Sauce Recipe

 Family Recipe for Sicilian Tomato Sauce Recipe

I am sharing one of my favorite memories of my childhood!  This recipe was passed down from my grandfather to my mom after I was born.  She made this pasta recipe throughout my youth, ensuring that I became a fan.  As I got older and didn't learn how to cook, I remember just buying the store-bought brands.  You know, you spend so much time learning math, science, English, foreign language, etc. that you never find the time to learn a skill that will follow you throughout life.  So, this recipe almost didn't make it to me.  Then, when I became a mom,  I realized that I wanted my children to experience homemade pasta sauce and not just what I could purchase from the store in a jar.  I make mine with real olive oil, tomatoes from Italy, fresh basil, garlic, and onions.  This recipe is truly passed down from my Sicilian great-grandfather to my grandfather, to my mom, and to me!  I guarantee you will never want to grab a jar of store-bought pasta sauce after learning how easy it is to make your own and how it is so much more delicious!  I prefer my pasta sauce savory, a bit tangy.  I don't add sugar to this pasta sauce and there is no added salt either.  I flavor this sauce with garlic powder, onions, garlic, and some basil.  The wonderful thing about this recipe is that you will probably have a ton left over for many other pasta nights.  Make sure you have plastic soup containers to put your remaining pasta sauce in for the next meal.  This dish was probably made for people to make together.  Before using canned tomatoes from Cento, people used to work as a team bringing in the tomatoes from the field and creating their own peeled tomatoes.  To make this dish, I use about two bulbs of garlic.  This recipe is flavored from the garlic so I never want to skimp on garlic and usually have a bowl of garlic cloves ready to be chopped.  I use two large yellow onions and the flavor works perfectly with the sauce.  This tomato sauce is a perfect way to get your family together.  Sit down and peel the garlic together.  You will start to realize how cooking brings people together and food is a labor of love.  This is a pasta sauce worth working for and you won't get to taste it until you have worked hard to make it!  So go ahead and start peeling that garlic...it is good for you too!

Ingredients:

2 to 3 large bulbs of garlic

2 large yellow onions

3 cans Cento Italian Peeled Tomatoes

1/2 6 oz can Cento tomato paste

Garlic powder to taste

Instructions:

Coarsely chop the garlic cloves.  You should be able to fill up 1/2 of a small bowl with garlic.  Most of the time spent on this recipe was chopping the garlic since there were so many cloves to peel in the large bulbs.  Then, chop 2 yellow onions to create squares.  You want to make the onions chopped big enough to see them in the sauce.

Put olive oil in a large pot on medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until they are translucent or golden.  Add the 3 cans of peeled tomatoes and tomato paste.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes on low heat.  While the sauce is simmering, break up the tomatoes with the back of the stirring spoon.  Add garlic powder to taste.

Although a simple recipe, this pasta sauce brings family together as you work to peel the garlic.  If you can make your own peeled tomatoes from scratch just like Cento, I say go for it!  Nothing is better than a complete farm to table meal!  Enjoy!