Factory Made – Staple Recipes for Everyday Use
Pico De Gallo
Simple Delicious Marinara
Sofrito
A (Calorie) Factory Larder of Staple Recipes for Everyday Use
It’s easy to buy decent, reasonable quality staples for your kitchen and, out of season, you may have to. I’m not an avid canner or preserver – I don’t have several years’ worth of marinara sauce or beets put by – but I do love making a few quick, simple things that always turn out so much better when you make them at home from fresh ingredients.
Quick, Delicious Marinara Sauce
A light, delicious marinara is the cornerstone of many wonderful dishes. Here’s a quick, simple recipe to make it that takes about 10 minutes of active time and about a half hour of simmering. If you’re out of season for fresh tomatoes in your area, you can always use good quality canned – I like Muir Glen personally, and there are many good brands.
Ingredients – for about a pint and a half (enough for a large pan of lasagna or pasta for 6)
- Extra virgin olive oil – 1/4 C
- Garlic – 4 cloves, minced
- Tomato paste – 1TB (Tip: Buy tomato paste in squeezable tubes so you can use just a bit as you need it and then close the tube to preserve freshness).
- 4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced (or, out of season, 1 large can crushed or diced tomato)
- Water as necessary to thin sauce
- 1-2 tsp dried oregano or 1 TB fresh oregano, minced
- Splash of red wine or port wine
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and pepper to taste
- (Optional) A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn.
Method
Over medium-high heat, saute 4 cloves garlic, minced, in 1/4C olive oil until fragrant, but not brown. Add 1 TB tomato paste and stir quickly until incorporated. Add 1 large can crushed or diced tomato, or 4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced.
Add water, salt and pepper to taste, and 1-2 tsp. crushed dried oregano. Add large splash of red wine or port and 1 tsp. sugar. Cook for 1/2 hour on low-medium, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened. If you have any, towards the end of cooking is a great time to add a coarsely chopped handful of fresh basil). TIP: This recipe doubles easily and freezes well, so you might want to make more than you need for an immediate meal!
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Pico De Gallo
Pico de Gallo
It’s easy to buy Pico de Gallo at most supermarkets, and if you buy a good brand, often a good local brand, it’s quite good. But it’s never as good as making it yourself. Here’s a simple recipe for making about 2-1/2 C. The key is to let it rest in a covered container in the refrigerator for a few hours. Halve this recipe –
Ingredients
- 8-10 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1/4 C. red onion, coarsely minced (red onion pieces should be about 1/4″ or so)
- 1 jalapeno pepper, finely minced (jalapeno pieces should be about 1/8″ or so, use a Serrano pepper for a little more heat)
- 3 medium cloves garlic, finely minced (garlic pieces should be about 1/8″ or so)
- juice of one juicy lime + 1/2 tsp. zest from that lime (zest lime first before juicing)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 5 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh cilantro sprigs (remove large pieces of stem)
- 1-1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Method
Gently but thoroughly mix diced tomatoes, minced red onion, minced chili and garlic together with lime, olive oil, salt and pepper. Fold in chopped cilantro sprigs.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. This tastes best when served the next day.
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Pico De Gallo
Sofrito
is arguably the quintessential Latin cooking ingredient – it’s used in as many dishes as tomatoes in Southern Italian cuisine. The term sofrito means to lightly fry or sauté. Literally hundreds – nay, thousands – of Spanish and Latin recipes start with the injunction to “make a sofrito”. As such, sofrito isn’t really a recipe – it’s a technique. Here’s ours!
Ingredients for a pint and a half or so
- 1 large can good quality Italian tomato puree (or fresh tomatoes seeded and skinned, in season)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced small
- 8 cloves garlic
- ½ – ¾ tsp. pimenton (smoked paprika, or just use regular sweet paprika)
- 1-1-1/2 tsp. Kosher salt (to taste – ours is for a little more salt – the idea is to add part of the salt during the sauté, then towards the end of the sauté, to taste and correct.
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ C. extra virgin olive oil
Method
Heat oil in fry pan, add onions, sugar, half the , and cook on low, stirring occasionally until onions have caramelized – about 35-40 minutes.
If you’re using fresh tomatoes, cut them lengthwise and grate them on the large holes of a box grater set in a large bowl until you’re down to the skin. Discard the skin. If you’re using canned tomato puree, open the can. We believe that if you are outside the usual growing season for fresh local tomatoes, you may want to consider using a good grade of canned puree.
Add tomatoes, bay leaves, and pimenton to the pan. Cook another 15 minutes or so until quite thick. Season to taste with remaining salt. Remove bay leaves.
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